


North Winter High School vs. South Summer High School

by ThomE_Gemcity_06



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Breaking and Entering, Family, Friendship, Gen, Illegal Activities, Language, Minor Violence, Revenge/Retaliation, Teenage Drama, gender disguise, school rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7564795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThomE_Gemcity_06/pseuds/ThomE_Gemcity_06
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NWHS & SSHS are rivals schools. Trying to get some info, Jon and Robb send their sister Arya in disguised as a boy to get the dirt, but is quickly found out by another student Gendry Waters. Does he turn her over, or join her cause?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Mission Alpha, Alert CY

**Author's Note:**

> Index:  
> NWHS = North Winter High School  
> NW(H) = North Winter (High)  
> SSHS = South Summer High School  
> SS(H) = South Summer (High)  
> Ages are as listed:  
> Robb - 17  
> Jon - 17  
> Sansa - 15  
> Arya - 14  
> Bran - 10  
> Rickon - 8  
> -

**Mission Alpha: Disguise**

"I can't breathe." Arya protested.

"If you have enough breath to complain, then you can breathe just fine."

She glowered at his reflection in the mirror, grunting as he gave the binding around her chest an extra tug for good measure. "Why me again?"

"Because of your sparkling personality, that's why!" Jon said albeit sarcastically, rolling his dark eyes. "Because you have a brain, and would blend in more easily."

"What he mean's to say," Robb said, coming into the bedroom, "is that you look like boy."

Arya spun around and glared at him, her arms crossed over her bound and now even flatter chest. "Just say it plan, bros. Sending in a girl to do a boy's job!" She smirked.

"Oh-ha-ha. Your more boy than girl,"

"You should be nice to me, you know." She told him. "I don't _have_ to do this, it's a favour—to you—so you idiots owe me big!

"You're the on who volunteered!" Robb protested.

"As a favor!" She repeated like he was an idiot.

"Would you two shut up?" Jon groaned, running his fingers through his thick curls. "It's like being around a bunch of children!"

"Don't even start that shit." Robb told him.

"Stop making me regret this and give me the shirt already." Arya sighed, holding out her hand. Jon grabbed the shirt off the hanger that was hanging in his closet and handed it to her.

Arya took it with a disgusted look and slipped the golden-yellow polo shirt over her head and let it settle over her bare shoulders. Her expression stayed the same as she looked at her reflection in the body mirror. 

"Please, someone give me a can so I can barf my insides out." Arya said in contempt. The South Summer High School uniform was a golden-yellow polo shirt, black tight-fitting shorts that ended above the knee, and tennis shoes—on the breast of the shirt was the coat of arms of the Lannisters who founded the school; red lion crest on the breast with _Hear Me Roar!_ scrawled in Latin beneath it as the motto. Arya gagged, and Robb was trying to repress sniggers behind her. "Ugh. Why am I doing this again?" She turned to her brothers so that she didn't have to look at herself anymore.

**Mission Alert: Code Yellow** — **Mission Recap**

"Because those bastards broke into our school and left, like, thirty stray cats in our cafeteria over the weekend. By Monday, all the food was contaminated, there was cat shit and piss everywhere. It's been a week and the place still smells like a litter box!" Jon nose wrinkled as he was reminded of the smell. 

"Cat's are disgusting!" Robb said. "They shit in the house, in an open box that just sits there and stinks, and cat litter gets all over the place. And they hack up hairballs," he shuddered. "Disgusting creatures."

"I can't believe I cut my hair for this shit!" Arya exclaimed, tugging at her short locks that framed her face. "It better be worth it."

"It will." Jon assured her, stepping up to his sister and setting his hands on her narrow shoulders. "All you got to do is go to SSH, take a look around, get a feel for the place, get some stats—then come back and we can come up with a plan of action."

"Maybe we should paint their walls with dog shit, see how they like it." Robb said darkly.

"Jesus, Robb!" Jon exclaimed as he and Arya looked at their brother open-mouthed.

"I was joking!" He mutter, "sorta."

"That's all?" Arya said to Jon. "Just scout the place out? If that was all, why the hell did I cut my hair?!"

"Hey, you did that on your own." Jon protested.

She scowled at him. "That's 'cause I thought this would be a long term thing, you know. Go in there disguised, integrate myself into the in-crowd. Become friends with that prick Joffrey—'cause his grandfather's the Principle of the school, and his step-dad the Vice—get the dark secrets... then strike!" Her clenched fist smack her palm as she started to chuckle a little madly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Robb wondered.

"Nothing, nothing..." Arya straightened and looked between them shiftily.

"Are you're sure you're okay?" Jon asked, looking a little concerned.

She cleared her throat and tugged the shirt away from his bound chest. "I don't know, it's this uniform, it's so pretentious and douche-y—it kind of makes me want to belittle and look down at people."

"So nothing new, then." Robb remarked.

"Ha ha." She said sarcastically and punched him in the shoulder. "So, how we gonna explain my absence at NW, if I'm going to be spying at SS?"

"Got that covered. The reason why we waited so long to do this was because dad's at a conference in Pyke, and mother's helping at Lysa with Robin being sick. They'll be back Friday morning so all we have to do is call the school and pretend to be mother saying that you're sick. With just Mr. Luwin checking on us from next door, we'll be fine." Jon looked a little proud of his cleverness.

"Clever boy!" Robb deadpanned, slapping his brother's back.

"Okay! Get in, get the Intel., get out, then get revenge." Arya clapped. "Mission, Destroy Pretentious Pricks is a go!"

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 


	2. Chapter 1: Mission Bravo, Charlie, Alert CR, Delta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robb - 17  
> Jon - 17  
> Sansa - 15  
> Arya - 14  
> Bran - 10  
> Rickon - 8  
> -  
> Gendry - 17  
> -  
> Joffrey - 15  
> -

**Mission Bravo: Covert Entry**

She couldn't risk being seen with her brothers—who were widely known at NWH and SSH and associated with the Direwolves—so before they headed to NW for class, they dropped Arya a few blocks from SS.

Arya fought the urge to commit suicide at being seen in this school uniform out in public or claw out her eyes as she entered South Summer High's school-grounds and was met with other slightly varied, puke-fest uniforms. Sweater over the shoulders etc., it all just got worse down the line. But they were all the same golden-yellow colour. SS's school colours were gold, red and black, but passing that colour off as gold, was like saying school busses were yellow when they were more the colour of dried-out mustard.

She quickly beat up her idea that this would be a week long mission, and thanked the Gods that Jon and Robb just needed her here for one school day.

Trying to walk like a boy, she went straight down the path to the building doors as the all the other boys mild around and hung out before the first bell rang.

The instant that Arya stepped in the door, she stumbled back a bit as she was hit with an overpowering dismal atmosphere. It was suffocating, more so than the tight binding compressing her breasts. She righted herself, pushing back the feeling and taking a deep breath, walking slow as she looked around her and forced back the gag.

This school was elegant in a useless and gaudy way, unlike NWH that had a mixed student body and uniforms that actually looked good and was built sturdy and strong with its architecture speaking for itself, unlike SSH who was decorated just to show off its deep pockets and lack of taste in the simple things.

Arya went over the plan again in her head as she wandered around. Gathering Intel. What could possibly be useful in mission of retaliation for the cats in the cafeteria?

Summer South was an all boys private school for the wealthy, unlike North Winter that while school uniforms were mandatory, was unisex and a public school. Though a girl, and midway through her first freshman year, Arya could take care of herself—at NW, she was champion on the wrestling team, the only female participant, she's taken out boys five times her size. Her brothers were right, she could act the part of boy just fine, not sure how annoyed by that fact she was—or if it was just her brothers being right about something.

**Mission Charlie: Gathering Intelligence**

She came to a three way intersection of hall, the corridor that she had been travelling, one leading off to the right and one to the left. Which way to go? As she tried to decide, she looked at the huge representation of SS's mascot, the Lion painted in a mural on the junction wall. She looked up at it open-mouthed, it was huge! A golden lion roaring—and if it had been just that, she could have simply moved on, but it wasn't. It was a lion in a field of green, roaring, in the background were stags who had been grazing, startled by its bellow, and beneath it's heavy paw pinning down a grey dire wolf, blood running the walls red.

"Bastards!" she spat, looking at the display in complete disgust. She took out her cell and snapped a few shots. Her brothers needed to see this display of such disregard and brutality. Arya had been doing this as a favor for her brothers, but now she was aghast at the Lannisters and SS’s classlessness and her blood boiled hot with anger. Her hands clenched at her sides the bell startled her from her ravings. "Shit!" she cursed, she wasted all her precious time looking at this piece of crap instead of finishing her tour of this hideous place.

But yes, already she knew what she and her brothers were going to do for revenge. She spun back around, ready to make her leave through her previous pass as the students made their way to classes, and collided into another student.

"Sor—" She started, pushing herself up, but stopped short when she looked up to find that the boy she had bumped into was none other then NW Enemy Number One.

"Little bastard!" Joffrey Lannister cussed at her, glaring down at her still on the floor as he dusted off his black shorts and straightened the sweater around his neck.

Arya would have been rolling around laughing at the sight of him if the situation had been a little different; like if she wasn't deep in enemy territory, and the anger was bubbling up inside of her. She clenched her teeth, Robb and Jon had given her a few ground rules before they sent her into the lion's den (literally)—don't get caught (obvious); under no circumstance get into a fight, if there is confrontation WALK AWAY! She had never walked away from a fight in her life.

"Watch where you're going... you peasant! You stand in the presence of royalty. I am Joffrey Lannister, my family is founder of this school. You should be grovelling in my company like the insect you are. Know your betters." Joffrey lifted his sneakered foot and looked about to kick her at her place on the floor— _actually kick her while she was down_.

Arya's muscles bunched, about to grab him ankle and throw him to the ground and kick _him_ a few times—see how he liked it—Jon and Robb's rules be damned. She had never actually met Joffrey as Arya Stark (that was part of the reason why she volunteered for this), but her brothers had several times, and now she knew why they hated the prat as much as they did.

Before she could make her move though, someone grabbed her collar and yanked her up and set her on her feet. Arya's head ripped around and found another boy—a rather hot and big boy—standing next to her. He had ink-black bed head, and electric blue eyes, he stood six-feet if not more, broad-shouldered. He didn't wear the usual uniform, but it was coloured differently, making it look all the better. His shirt was red, with the SS crest golden-yellow on the breast but in black marker he‘d drawn a circle around it with a line through the middle, and he wore black trousers instead of shorts.

"Not much class in picking on the little people is there, Joffrey?" The dark-haired, blue-eyed boy said, looking down at the smaller, shorter blond. His hand clamped down on Arya's shoulder firmly, keeping her in place—keeping her from tackling Joffrey and caving in his pretty-douche face.

Joffrey glared, not at the other boy, but Arya. "I'll be seeing you again, little bastard, and next time you won't have this Bull to protect you." And he spun on his heel and stormed down the hall, if he had a cape it would have whipped out behind him.

"Grrragh!" Arya growled low in her throat and swiped angrily at the space the other boy had just occupied.

"Easy, kid." The teen muttered.

"Let me go!" Arya shouted, but the only reason she was allowed to tear free was because he allowed it. "I didn't ask for your help."

"No. But that didn't mean you didn't need it." He said, crossing his rather muscular arms loosely over his chest.

Arya tugged down at her polo shirt and glared up at him. "I didn't need help either, I could have taken that ass-hole."

He smirked a little, glancing at her up and down. "I believe you, but it wasn't a fight I was saving you from, kid. That prick—to put it elegantly—is the Priciple's grandson... that mean's he gets specially treatment—as in, he'd get off Scott-free and you’d get detention and cleaning duty at the least, expelled at the most."

"I think I'd have faired pretty fine." She deadpanned. She didn't go to this school, so she couldn't be punished as a student, but it's not like she would have gotten caught in the first place.

"Hmm." He leaned forward slightly and peered at her closely.

**Mission Alert: CODE RED!** — **Discovery Imminent**

Crap! At a distance she looked like a boy, and even at a talking distance if the other person didn't suspect she was something other than the boy she was pretending to be and even then they still might not, by the way that he was looking at her... it made her nervous. She didn't think this guy was as obtuse as Joffrey.

"I haven't seen you around here before." He said, straightening up but still looking at her through narrowed eyes. "Did you just transfer? You mustn’t have gotten the school-wide bulletin to avoid that boy that get's passed-off as a human these days."

"Yes." She looked him straight in the eye as she said it, she'd learned that long ago when it came to lying.

He cocked his head a little as he looked at her. "What class do you have? I'll take you to it."

"No, that's fine, I can find it by myself. Thanks," she turned and started back down the hall that she had come. She needed to get out of there, she couldn't swear that the clock was ticking down until he zeroed in on what he thought was odd about her.

But he casually walked beside her. "My class is this way, too."

Arya silently cursed. Why won't this guy bugger off? Didn't he know when he wasn't wanted? Maybe he was stupider than she thought.

"Oh-hah-hah." She chuckled, scratching her neck. "Now that I think about it, I'm not feeling all that well—"

"Oh! Then I'll take you to the nurse's office, see that you make it there alright." He offered.

"N-no. I think I'll just head home, no need to bother the nurse." Arya walked for almost another minute down the hall, all the other students in class as the second bell rang to signal the start of class. She pushed through the school's entrance and stepped out onto the front steps, but when she looked he was still next to her, his hands shoved casually into his pockets.

Gods, she couldn't seem to shake him! She fought the urge to tell him to fuck off and quite stalking her! But that was a girl-reaction and right now she wasn't a girl, she was a boy. Damnit! She started down the steps after shooting him a glare that clearly said what she was feeling, but he continued to follow her.

"I could swear," he murmured, "that I've seen you somewhere before."

She tensed a little as she heard this, sure that she'd never seen him herself, but kept walking, not a falter in her stride.

"How long have you been going here?" he asked.

"Not that long," she replied vaguely, starting down the path towards the front gates.

"Hmm." He picked up his pace and walked next to her, openly looking at her.

Seriously, how long was this Gods-damned path?! She stared straight ahead even though she could feel his gaze boring into her face like he was trying to decipher game-cheats. She felt her face turn warm at the attention and gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to clench her hands in a swirl of frustration. She reached the gates with a breath of relief and turned onto the sidewalk. He'd stop following her now, they were off school grounds, he'd forget about her and turn back—but when she looked over, he was still beside her.

"Would you please stop following me!" She exclaimed and started to walk a little faster.

He easily kept the pace with his long strides. "I'm not. I decided to skip today—not that it's any of your business—we just happen to be going the same way."

Arya didn't believe a word he said, and he probably knew it too, but he kept on anyways. What was wrong with this guy? She thought he seemed okay in the school, but now he was starting to look like a creep, one that preyed on younger boys. She could take care of herself if it came to that, but by the way he moved, she could tell that he knew how to fight. She gritted her teeth harder, she couldn't go home with him following her, what was she going to do? She growled low in her throat, her frustration needed to vent out somewhere.

"Oh my Gods!" He suddenly exclaimed, halting.

Arya spun around in surprise. Did he figure out where he knew her from? Was she discovered? But he just grinned at her, holding up a shiny dollar that he'd found on the sidewalk.

"So much better then a lucky penny!"

She shot him a look of degusted and turned back around and continued walking. His own footsteps started up again. She was speed walking now. Her heart was hammering in her chest from the shot of adrenaline that went through her at his exclamation, her breath coming a little faster.

"Hey, what's that?" He said, but she kept walking. Did someone have a hole in their pocket or something? Jeez! But a second later she wished that she'd stopped as she felt a tug—at first she thought that it was her shirt, but when her chest loosened and she could take deeper breathes—she realized that it was the binding around her chest.

She yelped, spinning around to find nearly two meters distance between them, and hanging in-between was the wrap that had been around her chest. She tried to grab for it, but the other end slipped from her shirt and fell to the ground. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to hid the clear evidence that she was in fact a girl disguised as a boy.

He was looking at her wide-eyes, his mouth open, hand still clutching the wrap. "You—You're a... girl!" he choked.

Her flight or fight instinct kicked in—and while it was usually fight or fight instinct for her, this situation was completely different, it was uncharted territory—so she turned and ran.

"Wait!" He called out to her. "I said—"

He was running after her, she could hear his steps, his breathing, feel him behind her and gaining fast despite the rush of speed she put into her step.

"Just leave me alone!" She yelled at him over her shoulder, her hands too busy pumping at her sides to cross over her chest. She cut into a lawn of grass and realized too late that this was the south entrance to the park where you had to go up a hill to get into the actual park place and level out.

He didn't have to catch her because she stepped wrong and her ankle twinged and she fell on her face. She groaned, gasping and flopped onto her back, staring into the sky as he caught up. She glared at him.

"Gods, who are you? What do you want? Why do you keep following me?" Arya demanded.

"You can call me Gendry," he told her, collapsing onto the grass beside her, gasping. "You were acting weird and I wanted to know what was up. And maybe I was following you just a bit. What about you, huh? Why the hell were you dressed up as a guy?"

Arya groaned, slapping her hands over her face. There was no point now, she was discovered. He was honest enough with her. She sat up and looked over at him. "I go to NWH—"

"That's where I know you from! NW's wrestling team. You guys went against SS's team earlier this year." Gendry interrupted her before she barely got a few words out, happy to finally put that nagging feeling to rest.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not on the wrestling team, I would have remembered you."

"No. My dad's the coach and makes me come to the matches."

"You dad?" Now it was Arya's turn to peer at him closely, and thought back to her last match with SS. Their coach was a loud, pot-bellied older man with long dark hair and a biker beard—and he also happened to be the Vice Principle. "Oh my Gods, you're a Baratheon?!" She exclaimed. "Your father's _Robert Baratheon_?"

"I'm an not a Baratheon!" Gendry's voice hardened and she sat back in surprise. "I am a Waters. Robert just happens to be the sperm of my creation."

"Okay." She said placatingly. "So, who's your mother?"

He sighed and his blue eyes looked pained. "She was a teacher at SS. She and Robert had an affair and she got pregnant. Of course, it wasn't a fairly tail ending, he's married to Cersei Lannister, you know? So he didn't take responsibility for me, but paid the child support each month. When my mother died when I was five, he got custody, and my life's been hell ever since."

"You mean Joffrey—"

"My step-brother, yeah. Thank the Seven I'm not related to that little pissant though." He carded his fingers through his dark locks and glanced at her. "I've told you some pretty personal things about myself, you gonna return the favour or what."

**Mission Delta: Plan Of Attack, Part 1**

"You're the one who went and poured your guts out!" She pointed out, but smiled a little. "My names Arya—I'm a Stark if you must know. Last week Joffrey made our school cafeteria into a feral cat litter box, so I went undercover—" he sniggered, she glared at him "— _undercover_ to see if I could dig up some dirt, come up with a plan of revenge."

"And?" he wondered. "Did you?"

She raised her brows. "I'm not so sure I should tell you, you are the enemy after all."

"Seriously? I hate that school as much—if not more—than you guys at NW. I could be your inside guy, I could totally help you out!"

"Hmm." She looked at him closely as she thought. He had a rocky relationship with his father at best, hated the shit out of his step-brother, she could only imagine what 24/7 around a douch like Joffrey was like. If anyone could hate SS and the Lannisters as much as NW and the Starks, it was Gendry Waters. "All right... don't make me regret this guy-I-just-met-an-hour-ago."

"You won't, boy-I-just-met-who-turned-out-to-be-a-girl-in-disguise-with-a-plan-that-schemes-to-be-awesome." He grinned.

"Okay, so you know that disgusting mural of the lion at the end of the hall?"

"Ugh, yeah. I have to see that thing every day!"

"Well, what I was thinking was..."

When her brothers found out that she brought Gendry, a SS student in on their plan of attack, they wouldn't be too happy, but they would in the end of things; they needed Gendry if this was going to work.

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 


	3. Chapter 2: Misson Echo, Alert CR x2, Foxtrot

**Mission Echo: Enemy Combatant Taken To Base  
**  
When Arya went back to Winterfell Manor, Gendry somehow came with her. She didn't know how it happened, they'd just been talking about her plan, and different things like family, almost as if they had known each other for years instead of that morning—it usually took Arya months, even years to warm up to people—but Gendry seemed to be different, despite who his father was.

"Holy shit!" Gendry exclaimed when they stepped through the front door of Winterfell Manor. "You must be rich."

"It's a family owned property," Arya explained. "It went to my father after his dad died and my Uncle Brandon. But how could you be shocked by this? Doesn't your dad own big property? Married to a Lannister and all?"

Gendry shrugged. "I guess, but this place just seems different. Still, your old man must be loaded to keep this place up and running."

"He has his own advertising company, you might have heard of it? Winter Is Coming, Conglomerate; it's the Stark Clan's motto. So I guess you could say that, but he started that business himself, right from a one bedroom apartment as he was finishing high school. He's a self-made man, and used none of the Stark money to build it." She said proudly.

"Sound like a cool dude," he muttered as Arya lead him to the living room.

"I'm going to change out of this barf-uniform, wait here a minute, would you?"

"Sure," and he flopped on the couch like he owned the place and turned on the television mounted on the wall.

Arya cocked an eyebrow but said nothing as she went upstairs to her bedroom. She stripped from the SS school uniform with a relief that was akin to it being made from wriggling maggot. She go out her cell phone and dialled Jon's number as she fished through her drawers for something to wear in nothing but her panties.

" _Arya_?" he picked up on the first ring, it must've been first-break.

"Yeah, it's me." She said and put the phone on speaker and set it on her dresser as clipped on her bra.

" _You okay? Are you done already_?"

"Yep."

" _Any trouble_?"

"Erm..."

" _Arya_?"

Arya groaned and rolled her eyes as his tone. "I might of had a little run in with the blond douche bag within the first ten minutes of entering the school."

She slipped on a pair of blue skinny jean's as she pictured the expression on his face. " _Did he hurt you? Did you get caught? He didn't recognize you, did he?"_

"No, I'm not hurt. No one in authority caught me. And if he did recognize me, we'd be having a completely different conversation right now, Jon." She knew it was better to just answer his questions instead of being sarcastic.

" _Fine, I believe you. But I guess that means this whole plan was an epic fail, when Robb and I get back, we're going to have to come up with something new because there's no way you’re going back there after running in with Joffrey_."

"Actually, I did find something and I've already worked out a plan of attack—with just a few kinks that can easily worked out." That was the easy part to tell him, but what about the second-half?

" _That's awesome, Arya! I wish we could skip out for the rest of the day but have a class presentation to do after lunch, besides, one absent Stark around here is bad enough. If two more go missing, they'll know something disastrous is up. But we'll come straight home after the end-bell."_

"Okay." She paused. "I also have a surprise for when you guys get back." There, the second part.

" _Agh! I just got a chill when you said that, Arya. We're not going to like this, are we_?"

"Maybe," she hedged. "But it's going to happen anyway, there's no turning back."

_"Hah. Fine, well be there by four. Love you, little sister. Bye_."

"You too. See ya," Arya flipped her phone shut and slipped on a long-sleeved _Bitten_ TV-series shirt. Sansa would be hanging out at her best-friend, Jeyne Poole's house until curfew. Bran and Rickon had their club practices until six o'clock where Jon and Robb picked them up, leaving Arya to order some pizza.

**Mission Alert: Stranger Danger (Who Just Happened To Be A Boy)!**

She was half-way down the staircase when the fact that she had an older boy, a virtual stranger, lounging in her living room in her very unoccupied house; the stop was so sudden that if she hadn't been gripping the handrail, the momentum would have carried her the rest of the way down the stairs in a tumbling pile of hurt. What the hell had she been thinking? She barely knew this guy and just left him downstairs, what if he was a budding thief and had already stolen the silver and good china? Gods, how could she explain that?

_Get a Grip Stark_! She screamed at herself. _You do know him though, don't you. You learned more about him in the last hour than you probably know about Sansa after fourteen years living with her. You know he's seventeen-years-old. You know about his family; the origins of his birth, the death of his mother, how he came to live with his father, and who his step-family is. You know that everyone at SSH calls him the Bull. His favourite colour is green. He hates cats and loves dogs. He prefers shop class to math, gym to English, art to science—though he‘s a top student in all of them. Gendry was no more a stranger than Jon was, or Robb. He just happened to be a boy that wasn't related to you, caught you trespassing in his school, and discovered that you were a girl disguised as a boy and the first time he saw you was in that uniform that should be considered a crime._

Arya let out a breath. He was no stranger. She continued down the stairs and stopped in the living room entry, staring at the back of his dark-haired head as he sat on the couch with his arm laid across the back. It was the middle of the day, so there was nothing on but day-time talk shoes and soap operas, but he found YTV and was currently watching a re-run of Avatar: The Last Air Bender.

"It's rude to stare, you know."

Arya was able to stop herself from jumping, but not the gasp. He chuckled and twisted around on the couch, looking her up and down with those blue eyes.

"That's more like it," he murmured and turned back to the TV.

"More like what?" she wondered, coming around and sitting on the couch next to him.

"Just talking to myself," he said, shooting her a glance.

She leaned back and could feel the length of his bare arm at the back of her head. "I called my brother, they'll be back around four. We can go over the plan with them then."

"You're brothers?" He questioned. "You mean—"

She looked at him and scoffed with laughter, "Don't tell me you thought that I just decided to do this by myself!"

"Of course not!" He protested, looking indignant. "But brothers? How many we talking here?"

"Four—" his expression was priceless "—technically. Two older and two younger."

He seemed to relax a notch at that. "I can handle two," he muttered.

"Maybe," she smirked.

He cocked a dark brow as he looked at her next to him. "Just maybe? Just how much older are these guys?!"

"Same age as you. But I've never seen you fight, so I'd just be ball parking it. It could go either way."

"I don't see how you can find this so funny, Arya." He said with a sour expression that made her chuckle. "What did you tell them about me being here."

"Erm," she cleared her throat a bit awkwardly. "I told them it was a surprise. If I explained that it was you, they would have been here by now, that's part of the reason I didn't tell them."

"And the other part?"

"Their reactions are going to be priceless, of course! Bringing an enemy into the plan, their gonna blow a gasket." She grinned.

"Glad I could provide you with such great entertainment." He deadpanned. "NWH and SSH have been at each other's throats even back when our father's attended, hell, their dads even. The hatred between Wolf and Lion was built into the foundation of these schools, it's almost bred into the students—of course scum like Joffrey don't help matters."

"You don't seem to hate NWH," Arya pointed out. "You hate that your school as much as we Direwolves—more even."

"Yeah, well, that place has given me nothing by grief since the start of my life." He said darkly and her expression started to soften. "What about your parents?" he asked suddenly, the darkness that had been clouding his blue eyes vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.

"What? Oh, my dad's at a conference with a client of Pyke and my mother's visiting her sister."

"Really," he murmured. "So you bring a boy you barely even know back to your empty house with no big brothers or parents to protect you?"

She crossed her arms and narrowed her grey eyes. "What is it that you're implying, Gendry?"

"Nothing," but there was a sly look in his eyes. "I'm just saying, what if I'm not the nice guy I claim to be?"

"Well, I figured that if you tried anything dirty, I kick you were it hurts most, briefly incapacitating you and then get my father's gun." She said simply.

"And what if I said that I was girl disguising myself as a boy as well?"

"Then I'd tell you that pain is pain boy or girl, it doesn't matter."

"And I’d admit I don't stay a chance."

"Beside," she smirked. "We have six dogs on the property, you don't want to tangle with them."

"No, I do not." He agreed seriously. "Beside, I really am the nice boy I claim to be—unless provoked, then you get the Bull."

"Interesting, mess with me and you get a wolf."

The grinned at each other for a moment.

"So, if I'm staying till your brothers get back, what the hell are we supposed to do for four hours?" Gendry wondered, he could only take so much lounging, and besides, Avatar was over and Kat was on, and he hated cats, even cartoon ones.

Arya introduced that teen to the dogs and afterward wondered if he could ride a horse. Gendry didn't know how and Arya didn't want to risk him getting hurt, so they found entertainment in the den with the X-box and Call Of Duty two-player. The game could just suck you in and the next time you look at the clock hours have passed.

"YES!!" Arya cheered, jumping to her feet, her arms raised above her head the controller still in hand as she crowed in triumph. "How many times is that now, Waters? Each of your deaths powers the ever mighty She-Wolf81735. You should be bowing down. I can't believe how much you suck at this game, you only killed me, like, five times."

He glared up at her. "Maybe I was going easy on you, didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Arya's arms dropped to her sides and she narrowed her eyes, taking a step to him where he sat in a green beanbag. "You better take that slander back, Bull." She said through gritted teeth, growling.

"But if I took it back, I'd be lying. I'm no liar." He smirked; they both knew that he really did suck, but she was getting ticked anyways.

He could see the instant she was going to move, and dove from the beanbag. She landed on it with a explosions of it's beads, and under it's cover, he crawled behind the couch, the game forgotten, the hunt was on. He grinned. Perched on the dead beanbag, her eyes darted around the room for her target. She needed to get her honour back after that slander, Gendry was going down.

How many times had she and her brothers played hide-and-seek down in this room? She knew this place like she knew her own room. Gendry was a big guy, and there was a limit to the places that he could hide himself away it. She'd go for the most obvious and work her way from there. Silent like water, she moved from the beanbag to the couch with barely a noise, the replay of Gendry's death on the TV disguising her movements. Placing her hands on the back of the couch, she peeked over. He was right their, crouched in a ball, making himself smaller so that he had stayed hidden. She tensed, ready to pounce, but he must have sensed her because he moved first. He popped up and tackled her over the back of the couch, pinning her to the cushions beneath him.

"Ha! Who's the winner now?" He crowed.

Arya grabbed him around the ribs and with a grunt of effort, he yelped in surprise as she threw him from the couch and to the floor, pinning him like only a wrestler could.

"Want to retract that statement yet?" She murmured in his ear.

He grunted as her foot put a little more pressure on his chin. "Jesus, woman!" he exclaimed. "Yes, I take it back. I suck, I really do, you killed me like a hundred times. The Mighty She-Wolf81735 reigns supreme."

Arya released her hold on him and grinned as they sat up. "Now you have to be my slave for a week," she said with a straight face.

"The hell I am!" he exclaimed.

"You want me to pin you again, show my dominance?"

**Mission Alert: CODE RED** — **Comrades Return A.K.A Big Brothers  
  
** "What the fuck, Arya!?" Robb exclaimed. "S&M? Is that the surprise you were talking about? Well, colour me surprised."

"I'm not," Jon said with a straight face. "I always suspected—the way she always beats on us..." he wrapped his arms around his chest and gave a small shudder.

Robb and now Arya and Gendry looked at the him with open-mouths. The eldest Stark was aghast beyond words, even as Jon burst out in laughter.

The eldest Stark shook his shock off fast and went over to Arya and pulled his sister up, crushing her to his chest as he glared at Gendry still laying prone on the floor. "How can you be so casual about this, Jon? You saw what they were doing!"

"Oh, calm down, Robb!" Jon waved the whole issue aside calmly as Gendry climbed to his feet.

"ee ahsnt aut ee ood iq!" _It’s not what it looked like._ Arya protested into her brother's chest, her voice coming out thoroughly muffled as she struggled to free herself, but his hold was firm.

"She right." Gendry agreed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He glanced from Robb to Jon, the latter of whom he gave a knowing but long suffering look.

Jon sighed and came over to his brother and helped his sister out of his arms, the girl gasping with relief.

Arya punched Robb and glared at him. "Were you trying to kill me or what, you idiot?! This is Gendry Waters, he stepped in before I could kick that little shit's teeth in, he's on our team now."

"It's good to see you again, Gendry." Jon said to the two Starks' surprise. They watched as the two teen shook hands.

"You too, Jon." Gendry replied.

"Wait, Jon. You know each other?" Arya asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we've met volunteering at the community center for hours at school." Jon said, falling back onto the couch behind him. "He's a good kid."

"But he's with those lion bastards!" Robb protested. "How can we trust him? He could be a plant that Joffrey implemented."

"Firstly, Joffrey's pompous idiot. And secondly, you know we can trust him because he kept Arya out of trouble, didn't he? Thirdly, I trust him. And fourthly, he has just as much hate for that bastard and that school." Jon ticked off on his fingers. "Need I go further?"

Robb glowered silently, being stubborn.

Arya looked over at Gendry. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Jon?"

"Well, you never told me your brothers' names, so I never made the connection." He pointed out.

Arya fought the urge to stick her tongue out childishly at him in reply, because he was right, after all. "Alright, now that we've all agreed that Gendry is an asset for this mission, let's discuss the plan that the two of us discussed while we waited for you two."

**Mission Foxtrot: Plan Of Attack, Part 2  
  
** Robb took a seat on the couch next to Jon, still sulking, while Arya and Gendry moved the coffee table out of the way and put the two beanbags in their place; she took the leaking one to cause less damage to it—she was going to have to vacuum down here and sew the hole before her parents returned.

"So what could you have found within the first ten minutes that we could use to make those bastard suffer and ashamed?" Jon asked.

"You go down that main hall and there's this split, left and right, and on the wall, right there at the T-junction there's this mural painted on the wall." Arya explained in disgust, and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. "I took a few pics of with my phone. Here," she handed it over to Jon. "It's explain everything that needs to be said."

Jon leaned forward and took his sister's phone, as he selected her pics file, Robb leaned over so he could see the small screen as well. The most recent taken were always the first to appear, and both brothers quickly saw why their sister was disgusted.

"What the fuck is this?" Robb gasped in shock as he saw it. "Those sons-a-bitches!"

Jon's expression tightened in anger. "Those Lannisters have no morals at all, and their school is just the same—this is blaspheme against our school's animal, against the Stark Clan directly. They glorify themselves and say they're royal. They think we of the North families are the savages, but it is them who desecrate other old families' beliefs and houses. This is an insult, and has been standing for too long. Those bastards need to be taught a lesson in respect!" His anger was righteous as he jumped to his feet, his grey eyes dark.

Robb was nodding along, and though Arya could feel the fire of anger inside her brighten at her brother's words, she glanced over at Gendry next to her, worried that he might take offence—SS was his school and though not related, the Lannisters were still technically his family, but it wasn't Gendry sitting next to her anymore, it was the Bull. There was fire in the teen's eyes, blue fire, and it burned hot with his own anger and need for retaliation—that had never been his school and the Lannisters would never be his family; they treated him like trash, when they were the true garbage. She needn't have worried.

Jon dropped to his knees in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, grey meeting grey. "What's the plan, little sister?" he asked quietly, his voice intense.

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 


	4. Chapter 3:  Mission Status x2, Golf

**Mission Status: Intermission**

In the hour before Robb and Jon had to go pick up Bran and Rickon, the four had at least gotten a general idea of what they wanted to do—they had until Thursday night to undertake their mission. It was decided that Gendry would stay for dinner, it was the least the Starks could do after involving him.

"Don't you have to get home?" Arya wondered as the pair waited for the pizza to arrive. It was nearing six, so the evening shows were on TV, they selected a rerun of Criminal Minds.

"Nah. Robert hardly notices me when I'm there, he won't even notice that I'm not. And Cersei prefers it when I'm not there. I'm usually only at the house to sleep anyways." Gendry explained.

"Oh. Well, I guess that's good for us then. We can really put our efforts into our plan."

"Yep."

"Hey, this is the one where Reid gets kidnapped by that religious guy. This is one of my favorites!" Arya said, watching the TV.

"Really? I don't think I've actually seen this episode."

"Seriously? Then shut up and watch it, it's a good one!" She told him.

"Heh." Gendry scoffed, but did as he was told and put his focus on the television.

The episode was at it's climax withReid strapped to the chair on the floor and have a seizer when the door bell rang.

"Fuck!" Arya cursed. "Keep watching," she ordered when Gendry seemed to start to get up. She jumped up and dashed for the door. "Hey, Hot Pie." She greeted, recognizing the older teen.

"Oh, what's up, Arry? Parent's must be away, huh? That'll be $35.95; one extra large pepperoni with extra cheese, one extra large meat lovers with extra sauce; cheese and garlic sticks; three cans of Coke, one Sprite, one Pepsi, one Diet Pepsi." The chubby teen always called her Arry, always thinking her a boy—but what did it really matter?

They did a juggling act as Arya handed him the money with a tip, and he loaded her arms with all their food. "Thanks," she grunted and he waved goodbye. She kicked the door shut, and rushed to the kitchen, the heat from the pizza burning through the thin cardboard and through her sleeves. She set it on the island with relief.

"You could have asked me for help, you know." Gendry said from the doorway that led to the front hall.

"I managed just fine," She stuck her chin out even as she rubbed at the inside of her arms.

He smirked. "If you say so."

"Is the episode done?" She wondered.

"Commercial."

"My brothers should be back any minute now," she said, turning to the cupboards and grabbed six plates.

"So, four brothers, huh?" He came further into the kitchen and crossed his arms, leaning on the island as he watched her. "Is that why you dress up as one?"

"I don't do it recreationally!" She protested, setting the dishes on the island. "After I volunteered to help Robb and Jon out, it was the best plan of action. It worked out, didn't it? Joffrey was clueless and you didn't find out until you literally ripped the binding from my body—remember?" She turned back to the cupboard to grab some cups.

"Yes, I remember." He whispered.

She looked over her shoulder and found him looking at her with a steady gaze. She quickly turned back around. "Anyways," she cleared her throat. "I have an older sister."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Sansa. But were about as close as the sun and the moon." She said drily.

Gendry chuckled **.** "Probably girly, too, I bet."

"Yes..." she set the cups along side the pile of plates. "What of it?"

"Nothing." But he was smirking.

A brow twitched. "Anything further to add?"

"Nope." He shook his head, still grinning.

She went in the drawer and pulled out a butcher knife to cut the rest of the way through the crust. "Good." She said with her eyes widened slightly.

"Let's not get violent." He stood up straight, holding his hands up.

She grinned at him, laying the knife on the counter, about to reply when the front door banged open.

"You better run, you little turd!" Robb's voice reached them.

And a childish giggle followed as a flash of red-red streaked by the kitchen door to the main hall. A few seconds later Robb ran by. A minute later, Jon and Bran stepped into the kitchen, the latter in his softball uniform.

"Gendry, this is one of our little brother's, Bran." Jon said. "This is Gendry, he's a friend."

"Nice to meet you." Bran said politely from Jon's side.

"You too Bran." Gendry nodded to the brown-haired boy.

"Change and we can eat. And if you find those two, put them in their place, would you, Bran?" Jon patted him brother's shoulder.

"Sure," Bran smiled and left the way he entered, heading up the big staircase where Rickon and Robb were running around.

"What did Rickon do?" Arya wondered.

Jon laughed. "He pants Robb in front of a bunch of girls at school."

Arya cracked up. "He was wearing his lucky boxers, for your presentation, wasn't he?"

He nodded, grinning.

"Lucky boxers?" Gendry asked. "Do I even want to know?"

Jon looked to him. "He was wearing them the first time a girl kissed him, he was ten. It was a pair that mother had gotten him for Christmas, she thought they were tie-dye, but it turns out they're butterflies—but he still won't throw them out. Now he wears them every time there's an important event happening, from a class presentation to a team game."

"Pizza still hot?" Robb asked as he and the youngest Stark boys finally came down from upstairs. Jon and Arya were grinning at him, Gendry too. "What?" he asked, clearly dreading the answer.

"Butterflies?" Gendry wondered.

"I can't believe you told him!" Robb exclaimed at Jon and Arya. "That's private, family business!" The pair started laughing and Gendry smirking, Bran was smiling too as the eldest Stark son was shooting everyone indignant looks. "This is your fault, Rickon." He complained.

The little boy just smiled innocently at his big brother as Arya dished out his two pepperoni slices, cheese & garlic bread stick, and poured his Coke into a big plastic cup.

"We're gonna watch a movie in the living room," Arya told the boy. "If you spill, Rickon, mother's gonna kill us."

"I won't." Rickon promised and shuffled off to the living room, his dishes carefully balanced.

The rest of them got their own plates in a haphazard crowded sort of way. Bran took three pepperoni, the Sprite and a breadstick; Arya took two slices of the meat lovers and a piece of pepperoni, the diet Pepsi and two breadsticks; Jon took four slices of the meat lovers, a Coke and a breadstick; Robb took three meat lovers and a pepperoni, the last Coke and no breadstick; and Gendry took two slices of each, the Pepsi and a couple breadsticks. The group all settled in the living room, the older boys claiming the couch, eating from their laps, while the three youngest Starks settle in front on the floor, claiming the coffee table and sharing the ranch dip between the three of them—as the watched the movie Turbo.

When the movie was over and they were all finished eating, the two boys were sent up stairs to get cleaned up and do their homework for the night, and Gendry helped Arya clean up before he had to pack it in.

"Are you sure I can't drive you?" Jon asked, standing out front with the other teen and his sister, the porch light on.

"I'm sure, but thanks anyway, I can find myself to the house just fine. Thanks for the pizza, and we'll talk more tomorrow?" Gendry said, walking backwards down the stone path, navigating the winding trail perfectly for a guy who had only seen it once before.

"We exchanged numbers, didn't we?" Arya reminded him, her arms over her chest as she stood beside Jon, watching the other boy intently. "Don’t get mugged and killed on the way," she called after him as he got further and further away, a car stopping at the curb behind the close drive gate, and Sansa stepping out as she was dropped off, "I'd hate to have to find another double agent for our cause!"

He flashed a grin. "I can take care of myself!" And then he was gone, slipping through the path gate and disappearing a few seconds before Sansa came through and the car drove off.

"Who are you talking to?" Sansa asked as she walked passed them and into the house, not even saying hello, barely giving the pair a glance of acknowledgement.

The pair shared a look and an eye roll. "No one." Arya said.

"Did you eat?" Jon asked.

"Of course I ate! Unlike this family, the Pooles are civilized and feed their guests." And with that contemptuous comment, she went upstairs and disappeared into her room.

"Pleasant as always," Arya muttered as they came inside.

"We _did_ feed our guest," Jon said.

"Yeah, but to her it was probably gruel to what she _dined_ on at the Pooles'." She mocked.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Before I forget, I got the work that you missed at school today."

"Great," she groaned. "Anything else?"

He chuckled. "The den?" He suggested.

Arya glowered at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Please tell me that's it,"

He opened his mouth to say more, his finger up but Arya clapped her hand over her brother's mouth. "No," she said darkly, "not another word, brother."

He held up his hands innocently and after a moment she released his mouth. "Have fun!" He blurted, and dashed off upstairs before she could punch him.

Arya groaned, rubbing her hand over her face. Vacuuming first, before it got too late, she was just going to have to sew the beanbag tomorrow sometime, then today’s missed school work. As she vacuumed down in the den, she thought about Gendry and how lucky they were that the teen was on their side, he was invaluable to their plan.

Xx

**Mission Status: Resumed**

It was decided that Arya would go to school on Tuesday and her, Jon and Robb would meet up with Gendry after school to go over their plan in further detail from yesterday. They met in the park that was midway between their respective schools, but Arya got a text from Jon saying that he and Robb would be an hour or so late because they got stuck with cleaning duty, so it was just Arya and Gendry.

They claimed a pair of swings in the playground area despite them being for the little kids playing around, but they were ignored. Arya glanced over at the older boy as he swung through the air, their pace and power matched; he was still in his uniform (she had NW's on as well, though trousers instead of the pleated skirt that all the other girls wore)—the good-looking one, not the puke-fest that she had to wear the other day—with a blue unbuttoned button up shirt flapping around him like wings.

"I thought we talked about the staring?" Gendry said, turning to look at her.

She didn't turn her gaze away. "How come your uniform isn't eye-gouge and gag inducing with everyone else’s at SSH?" She asked him, curious.

"I would never be caught dead in those uniforms. I made this myself."

"You did?" Her mouth was agape, was there nothing this guy couldn't seem to do?

"It's a secret, so don't tell anyone." He winked at her. "You didn't look too bad yourself though."

"Ha ha, that's funny." She said sarcastically.

"I try," he smiled. "But I was serious."

**Mission Golf: Plan Of Attack, Part 3**

"Whatever, it's bad enough that I have to put that stuff on again tomorrow." She shuddered.

"I'm looking forward to it," he grinned.

"You sure no one's going to notice another student just popping up?" She asked, her bangs going into her eyes as she swung back.

"Nope. That's not going to be the problem, the real trouble will be from the dickhead." Gendry said as he pumped his powerful legs on the front swing. "Joffrey was looking for you all day, he wants to kill you for knocking him down yesterday. He figures that you were absent today because you were scared."

Arya scoffed. "It's that asshole who should be afraid of me, that improper self-assured retard."

"Maybe next time he pisses me off, I'll just sick you on him instead of lifting a finger." He mused.

She shot him a shark-grin. "You have my number."

He laughed. "A boy can dream," he murmured.

"Hey, there's Robb and Jon!" Arya pointed, Gendry following her finger. Up the small hill, her brothers settled at the picknick table that the four had agreed to meet at.

"Finally, how long does it take to clean a classroom anyway."

"They never apply themselves when it comes to shit like that." She said. "Wanna see who can land the farthest?"

"You're on!" He grinned. "Winner has to carry the other up the hill?"

"Bring it! Three pumps and it's lift off,"

_No way am I losing_ , Arya thought with each pump of her legs, putting as much power as she could into them. Gendry was stronger than her, but he was also bigger—it was a lot of weight to carry through the air. She was sure that she could win this, though she wasn't as strong as him, she was still strong, she was a wrestler, and she was small, easier to propel—like a sack of potatoes to a barrel of pumpkins.

"GO!" They called together and jumped together.

Arya flew through the air, almost flat like a high jumper, cutting through the air, trying to propel herself further, but she'd leaned back too far and couldn't get her feet under her proper as she hit the sand. Her shoes hit the sand, sending as shock through her body and she fell on her ass, sand spraying around her. She looked over to Gendry and found him a foot farther than her, standing up straight, his arms held straight in the air above his head in silent victory.

She climbed to her feet, glowering as she dusted the sand from her uniform. "How the hell did you get father than me? You're giant like a fucking tree!"

He put his arms down and grinned over at her. "It's all about the release, baby, the release."

"Whatever." She grumped.

"Carry me, servant." He purred.

"We started at the bottom," she started to move off.

"Wait," he jogged to catch up with her. "I was joking, Arya."

"I'm not," she returned, looking at him as they stopped at the bottom of the hill, Jon and Robb watching them curiously. "I took on the bet, I lost, so I accept the punishment." She gave herself a little stretch.

"You're just a girl," he protested.

She narrowed her eyes. "I've taken guys down as big as you."

"That's completely different!"

"We are doing this!" she growled.

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" he wondered.

"I have my pride," she said.

Gendry sighed and ran his fingers through his ink locks in stress; he couldn't be the one to wound her pride. "Fine," he resigned himself.

She looked surprised when he agreed, but wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth so she turned her back on him and bent her knees a little, bracing herself for his much heavier weight. He slowly climbed onto her small back, she grunted as she took his weight, her knees locking. It was like a Great Dane hitching a ride on the back of a Chihuahua—or worse yet, an elephant hitching a ride on the back of a donkey. But she managed, nearly. Much to Arya's dismay, half way up the hill, she was crushed by his weight and Gendry ended up carrying her the rest of the way up the hill.

"Is this some more of your S&M stuff, guys?" Robb said as the finally made it to the bench, Gendry dropping her down next to him.

Arya glared at her brother. "It was a bet."

"Oooh, she takes those very seriously." Jon whispered to Gendry next to him.

"Yeah. I learned that very recently," the other boy deadpanned.

"Can we please talk about the plan?" she grumbled.

"Alright. So, Gendry and I will be working on the sketches tonight. Tomorrow, Arya, you'll attend SS with Gendry again, getting the lay of it and all that. Come Thursday night, Gendry will get the keys from Robert and we'll all meet up the school, and use the paint from the art room." Jon said as they huddled close, secret like.

Gendry chipped in, "There's only one security guard for the whole building, Pycelle. He's an old, slow bastard, and only circuits the outside of the building. It'll be easy to bypass him, I'll have Robert's keys, the drunk won't even notice them gone. It should only take a couple hours to complete the job and we can leave the same way we came, locking it up. There's an alarm system, but I have the code for that as well, so the cops won't be a problem."

"I don't think I need remind everyone, but I'll say it anyway." Jon added, "What we will be doing will be illegal; breaking and entering onto private property, vandalism—"

"It's not really breaking and entering if we have the key and security codes," Robb said. "Technically speaking."

"We'll still get in shit if this Pycelle guy catches us, or the codes are out of date. The cops will be called and if we're caught, there could be real trouble here, guys. This is serious. Mother and dad with seriously murder us if we get arrested, so if on the chance that it does—fess up, okay? No bullshitting around. Are we all clear?"

Everyone nodded and muttered their agreement.

"Do you think that the cops could really catch us?" Arya asked. "They never caught Joffrey for the cafeteria. There was a few broken windows and all the cats either had an 'L' or a 'J' painted on them—it was so obviously him, but he was never charged or whatever."

"They probably did figure out it was him, but he's a Lannister and his grandfather has loads of cash, he probably paid to make it go away." Robb said bitterly.

"That _is_ what happened." Gendry said and the three of them looked at him in shock. "A few days later the police came by the house, I heard them talking about NWH with Cersei—and Tywin happened to be there as well, but he made it go away before they could even think about charging Joffrey."

"What the fuck? Can they really do that?" Arya exclaimed.

"Of course they can!" Gendry scoffed, his face dark with disgust. "The Lannisters are dirty bastards, they have lots of money and reputation, their money's in a lot of high pockets around the city. They can do just whatever the fuck they want!"

"Not this time!" Jon growled. "They’re going to pay for what they did to NWH and how they disgraced our House, our Name. This'll show them that they aren't untouchable, that even 'royalty' like them suffer the consequences of their misdeeds."

"It's their turn to feel humiliated." Gendry agreed, his fists clenched on the table top.

Arya swallowed, but was determined. This was for her family, her school... and Gendry too.

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 


	5. Chapter 4: Mission Hotel, Status x1, Alert CR, India

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Warning for this chapter, it gets a little gross with Joffrey at [Mission Alert: CODE RED!—Enemy Approaching.]

**Mission Hotel: Reconnaissance**

Wednesday night, Gendry had come over to Winterfell Manor so that he and Jon could work on the sketches that were going to be used on the assault on SSH. Those two were the best artists on the team so it would be Robb and Arya's job to get the supplies and keep watch as the two worked on the night of the attack. He stayed for dinner again, this time a homemade meal, and the Stark children fielded a conference call from both parents around the same time—Sansa dare not say a word. Gendry left around 10:00 p.m.

Thursday morning, Arya called the school and pretended to be Catelyn Stark informing the secretary that her daughter Arya was staying home due to ill feelings. They bought it like the last time with a murmur for her to get better. The SSH uniform with which Arya had nightmares about wearing again, encased her chest-bound body once more. Robb and Jon dropped her off at the same spot as Monday, the only difference this time was that Gendry was there waiting for her.

"Hey," Robb called to the pair through the rolled down window as Jon pulled away from the curb. "Stay out of trouble children!"

Arya flipped her brother the bird and he returned the favor with a bark of laughter as the car disappeared down the street. Gendry raised a dark brow at her as they started off towards SS, a few other students ahead of them.

"What?" She shrugged. "That's what he gets for calling me a child."

He just shook his head. "Just stick to me like glue, okay?"

"I'll be super glue." She grinned.

"I'm serious, Arya." Gendry said.

"I know." Her expression matched his serious one.

"You'll have a target on you back with Joffrey, but he won't do anything as long as I'm around. And yes, I know that you can kick his Q-tip ass easily, but that's beside the point—we don't want attention drawn to us. You're the talk of the school, that confrontation put a spotlight on you that we didn't need—so we have to be low key as possible. Try not to get in anyone’s face, and if any of the boys come up to you, your name if Arry Williams—it's a rather general name around here, so they won't be able to pinpoint your exact family. I am going to have to go to some of my classes, better not to draw attention to myself from the teachers."

"But if you go to class, what am I supposed do?" She asked.

He furrowed his brows in thought, his arms crossed loosely across his chest as they walked, she watched him. "I guess I'm going to have to sneak you into class, or you can hideout in a stall in the bathroom."

"What? The bathroom?! I don't want to sit in the _boys_ bathroom for almost two hours while I wait for you!" She protested. "Can't I take a look around the school while all the other students and the teachers are distracted with class?"

He sighed. "Maybe... I can skip my first period, which is gym, that's easy enough, but my next period is economics with Baelish, he's a sneaky bastard—he always tracks me down if I try and skip his class, so I can't risk it. But after lunch I should have shown you all you need to see and then you can get out of here."

"Wouldn't it just be better if I came at lunch, that way we'll be free to wander around the school without drawing suspicion?" She wondered.

But Gendry was shaking his head. "That would draw too much suspicion towards you, if you just showed up for that brief time at lunch and then were never seen again. No, it's better if you're there in the morning and through lunch, and then Arry can disappear and everyone will just think that you left because of Joffrey—that way, you'll be forgotten just like all the other's that he's scared off."

"Okay," Arya breathed as the walked through South Summer High's front gates with all the other students.

Gendry gave her a quick pat on the back in reassurance before shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked down the path. They went up the front steps and through the doors into the building. No one paid them any mind; they were all used to seeing Gendry in his altered uniform, and another boy in the foul school uniform just blended with all the others. Gendry was able to get through a tour of half the first floor before the first bell rang and students went to gather their books from their lockers and started to head to class—it was then that they hid away in one of the bathrooms, closing themselves in a stall until five minutes into class to make sure everyone was out of the halls.

Arya sat crouched upon the toilet, her hands planted on either side of the stall and her sneakered feet planted firmly on the open seat as Gendry stood in front of her, his back to her so that if another boy came, it would seem like he was just taking a dump. The girl didn't want to think about the teen taking a shit, or that if she slipped she'd end of in the toilet bowl, so she tried to think of other things while they waited the ten minutes.

She went over the quarter completed map in her head of SS and it was like another nightmare, the gaudy decorations didn't seem to end. The bathrooms weren't quiet the horror show that she'd pictured—like a gas station bathroom—but ended up being like a five-star restaurants restroom; she'd actually been surprised that there wasn't a man waiting by the sinks to hand over a fresh handtowel with some cologne and bowl of mints—that probably would have sent her over the edge.

"Is it time yet?" Arya whispered. "I'm cramping back here."

"Just another minute to be safe," he murmured back, his back a straight line inches from her face.

She was quiet as she tried not to smell him, but they were both in the small space of the stall and he was right in front of her—she had to admit that he smelled pretty good for a teenage boy.

"'Kay." He unlocked the door and stepped out, looking over his shoulder at her. "Coming?"

She gave her head a little shake and hopped from the toilet, landing light on her feet and stepped from the stall with relief. "Where to?"

"We can finish the first floor and do the second by the start of second period," Gendry said and peeked out the door to make sure the corridor was clear. "Clear."

They stepped out of the bathroom and Gendry recommenced his tour-guide duties; whenever they passed a classroom door, they duck-walked under the door windows to avoid notice.

Though 'rich and elegant' SS was built like any other school. On the ground floor, the main floor; there was the office and the attached V.P.'s, it had the cafeteria, gymnasium and changing rooms with showers, auditorium, an indoor pool, all the chemistry and biology classes, with a huge art studio and music studio with individual sound-proof practice room and the lockers and teachers lounge. She noted the entrances and exits; there was the main entrance, a side door at the west wing, another side door to the east and close to that the back door, along with emergency exits in the gym, cafeteria and auditorium.

There were two flights of stairs that took you to the second floor with all the english and history classes. Another teachers lounge, a huge ass library that was as big as the public one downtown, a study hall. And like on the main floor, at the end of that main corridor, the mural of the lion, stags and wolf, there was a similar rendering on the second floor. Arya quickly took a few pics of that as well, though there was no wolf in the painting this time, she still felt the anger and disgust. The main feature was the lion drinking from a watering hole, with a scattering of stags (which represented the Baratheon Family, which had ties with the Lannisters long before Robert and Cersei's marriage) around it, with a trout snarled in the lion's jaw. The trout was the animal of her mother's House, the Tully's, they were her family just as much as the Starks were. This was yet another slander to her family. Gendry and Jon had more work ahead of them before tomorrow night yet—this mural could stand no more than the one downstairs.

Gendry let her fume there for a moment, as the end of first period's bell rang and the students came pouring out. Arya stuck to him like glue as she followed him to his locker which was also on the second floor to collect his books for his economics class that was on the third floor. But he waited the last minute, hiding her away in the bathroom once more—they decided that it was better if she stay hidden then wandering around and getting caught—before he rushed off to his class.

**Mission Status: Sidelined** — **The Waiting Game**

The girl disguised as a boy sighed and locked herself in the stall second from the end. This bathroom was just the same as the last. No way was she going to stand for almost two hours, and crouch over the toilet either, but she wasn't just going to _sit_ on it. So she wasted time tugging on the toilet paper, which almost felt like silk, and tore it from the role, making a complete covering of the seat. She used the whole roll of paper before she felt safe enough to sit, careful so that she didn't tear through the center—just as glad as before that these weren't automatic flush toilets with the movement sensors or she would have been doomed.

She took out her cell phone and fell into the world of Angry Birds for the complete period, absorbed right in. Normally, she would have gone off exploring anyway, but this was too important for her to go AWOL, this meant too much so she would stay here and wait for Gendry to come and get her again for lunch, where in they see the third floor, with its own mural. She wondered what affront would next be made to her family this last time.

Before she knew it, she'd gone up several levels in her game and the period bell rang, signalling its end and the beginning of lunch. When the bathroom door opened she tucked her cell in her pocket and stayed where she was. Could Gendry have gotten back to her this fast? It was that doubt the kept her in her place, and saved her from walking straight into Joffrey.

**Mission Alert: CODE RED!—Enemy Approaching.**

She could see his flair of blond hair through the thin strip in the door hinge, wearing the same gross uniform as her with his pompous sweater loosely tied around his shoulders. Arya held her breath as he ambled over to the urinals on the left side of the bathroom, she quickly turned her gaze as lowered his shorts to his thighs, but caught the flash of white from his tighty-whities. She was barely able to hold back the whoop of laughter; Rickon was eight and he didn't even wear little boy undies.

He started to piss. "Taking shit in my bathroom, eh?"

Arya was startled to hear his voice. She was the only one in here, so he must be speaking to her. She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to answer him or not, and what would she say in the first place? _Yes?_ Or, _no I'm not taking a shit, you pig, why would you even ask someone a question like that in the first place, what the fuck is wrong with you_? Or something along those lines. But she was saved from the indecision as he continued to speak.

"I always find myself doing that as well, it's all the more satisfying, right boy?" His stream ended and he tucked himself back into his undies, pulling his shorts back up.

Unable to see any alternative, Arya grunted in response.

"Yeah," he flushed the urinal. "I think I'm going to join you."

Much to the girl's dismay, the boy claimed the stall next to her. Why would anyone want to take a dump next to another person, it was just absurd! She glanced at the floor and was just able to see the side of his sneaker and socked ankle, and then he pulled his black shorts and white undies down.

He gave a small grunt as he pushed and Arya squeezed her eyes shut tight. Where the hell was Gendry? She needed to get the fuck out of here.

His voice was breathy. "To help move things along, I jerk myself off, it helps relax the muscles. It natural."

Her eye popped open at this and she stared at the partition open-mouthed—was he—did he—She gagged. Fuck Gendry, she needed to get away from this freak before she was completely traumatized and he actually did what he was talking so casually about. She jumped to her feet, tore her carefully built cover on the toilet and flushed it with two plunges and ran the hell out of there. At the door, she flew straight into Gendry who was coming in.

"Wha—?" He started, but Arya tore passed him as Joffrey started grunting.

Gendry felt sick to his stomach as he recognized them for what they were for and exactly who they belonged to, he ran after Arya wishing he never knew who and why Joffrey did what he did.

Arya didn't care about the third floor, it wasn't like it entered into their plan anyways—she'd just get Gendry to tell her what was up there and about the mural on the wall—but she needed to be from this place, from here forever. The older teen finally caught up to her as she stepped from the school, but that wasn’t far enough for her. But he grabbed her arm and dragged her around to the side of the school, and out of sight of the other boys.

"Arya!" He said sharply, giving her a shake.

She was pale and gasping, her usually determined eyes wide with revulsion. "Please, can we leave this place?" her voice was strained.

"Yeah, yeah. Walk with me," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, tucking her small body against his side as he led her down the path and out the school gates. She stumbled alongside him, unseeing, as he led her several blocks away and sat them down on an empty bench. He stayed silent, his arm still wrapped around her narrow shoulders as she clung to his warmth and solidness like a victim in shock.

"Tell me you didn't know he did that." Her voice hollow. She stared straight ahead into the street and the passing cars, her head leaning against his broad shoulder.

He sighed and gave a little shudder. "I do know, unfortunately."

"Why?" she wondered. "Why?"

"The Lannisters are the most fucked up people I have ever met in my life." Gendry muttered. "I don't know what it is, but they're just... disturbed. Cersei's the worst, the way she acts around Joffrey, it's like she's obsessed with him. Her mothering is to the extreme—one of the reasons that I hardly ever want to be in that house—she bathes him like he's a baby, tucks him in like one, she cuts up his food and even chooses his outfits, and she lets him get away with anything. Once, when I was twelve, Joffrey would have been ten and his little sister Myrcella around two—well she found one of his toys that he just left laying around and was playing with it, he hated anyone touching his things other than him. He started screaming at her, trying to get the toy away, but she was just a kid, she didn't know any better and wouldn't let go—and he slapped her, right in this face, this little girl, this baby. Cersei heard all the crying and the screaming and came running—and went straight to Joffrey. It's sick, the way she coddles him." He sneered in disgust.

"Is that why he’s the way he is?" She couldn't understand how a mother could care for a child as nasty as him.

Gendry shook his head and she looked up at him. "A couple of years ago, my uncle on Robert's side, Renly—he's only four years older than me—he's an okay guy—well, we we're hanging out and I asked him if he knew who Joffrey's father was, because Myrcella and Tommen were born after I came to live with Robert and Cersei, and he told me something disturbing."

"What? What was it?" She felt a shiver go through her at what this secret might be.

He looked down at her intently, his voice low as a whispered as he spoke. "Well... did you know that Cersei was born a twin? His name is Jaime, he's a very handsome looking man, both as blond as the sun—the two of them had always been really closer, closer than any other siblings. When Cersei got pregnant with Joffrey, she had no boyfriend, people suspected not even a one-night stand. Just one-day she wasn't, the next she was." He made a poof-like-magic gesture.

She furrowed her brows. "So who was the father?"

"Well, look at me." He said. "Black hair, blue eyes. My mother was a blond with brown eyes. Myrcella and Tommen both have dark blond hair, almost a light brown, with blue eyes. Joffrey has blinding blond hair—who else has hair like that?"

She said slowly, "Cersei, obviously. And..." Her eyes widened, and she paled considerably. "You don't think—"

Gendry shrugged his shoulders and leaned back.

"But you can't really think that Renly meant—I mean—you just _can't_!"

"Why not?" He asked. "Just look at the facts and they should tell you all you need to know. The sun-blond hair. The way the Cersei mother's him. His repugnant nature [jerking off as he takes a shit]—maybe this is why he's a spiteful little bastard."

Arya was very strong-willed and bull-headed, Stark traits, she wasn't fazed by much and if she was, it wasn't for very long, but this was something different and completely unto itself. This was... _wrong_ , plan and simple. The thought made her stomach turn and turn.

"Arya?" Gendry asked in wonder, seeing her ghost expression, maybe even green around the gills. Maybe he _should_ n't have told her that.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" She spun around on the bench, hanging half-way over the back and trapping Gendry's arm beneath her as she first retched a couple of times and then expelled her breakfast of French toast and maple syrup with fried bologna from her body with some powerful heaves right behind them on the grass.

Gendry gagged, trying to tug his arm free as the smell of vomit reached him. He gave his arm a hard jerk, tearing the limb free, and nearly toppling the girl over the bench into her own sick before jumping to his feet and moving away until he could only smell the breeze.

She groaned, twisted back around, slumping on the bench, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The smell of her sick was making her eyes water and she stumbled to her feet and staggered away. How could she ever un-listen? Un-hear? Un-live what happened in that bathroom?

It took him a second to realized that Arya wasn't there when he couldn't hear her groaning, and when he turned he saw her staggering down the sidewalk in the opposite direction— _not_ in a straight line. He ran to her, grabbing her, if he hadn't she probably would have ended up in the middle of the street and traffic.

Jesus! She really didn't look alright. He broke her, he actually broke her. In the three days that he'd known her, she was the toughest cookie he'd ever met, and now she just seemed to be a crumbled one. He couldn't take her back home like this, her brothers would kill him, her little ones would hate him, what if she stayed like this and her parents came home?

He guided her along like a lost puppy, or someone with a concussion, slowly heading back to Winterfell Manor, trying to think. Cutting through the park, it came to him. He set her on a bench and went the twenty feet to the other side of the fountain, a moment later, when he came back, his hands were laden with ice cream. He held the cone stacked high with Rocky Road in front of her nose. She blinked, her grey eyes slowly focusing.

"Thanks!" She grinned, taking the treat from him and started liking.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment, relief going through him that she no longer looked like a zombie—it was like giving a kid ice-cream after they fell down and scraped their knee.

"Yeah. I guess I was a little out of it, huh?" She licked the drips from the edge of the cone before they could drop.

"A little?" he raised a brow.

"Well, it's not everyday and girl get scarred for life, is it!" She replied bitterly giving him a look, he looked a little ashamed. "A little warning next time, or don't tell me at all. But one thing is very clear,"

"What's that?" he asked when she didn't continued to speak but lick.

She paused briefly a looked the other teen straight in the eye. "We Are Never Ever Talking About This Again." She enunciated slowly and clearly.

"Agreed."

And she went back to her ice-cream. After a moment of watching her, he started on his own, which was half melted and running down his hand but he didn't care, Arya didn't seem to be broken anymore and they could move ahead with their plan.

Xx

**Mission India: Plan of Attack, Part 4**

When Gendry came over that afternoon, after he and Arya left the park, he and Jon really cracked down on those sketches, after the girl showed her two brothers the other mural on the second floor that targeted their mother's family House.

On their way back to Winterfell Manor, Arya had asked the teen about the third floor. All that was up there was Principle Tywin's office, the maths, economics, detention room, computer lab (two of them that together housed nearly 75 computers all with internet access. And the mural was of a lion riding on the back of a three-headed dragon, fangs tearing into the beast's wing, felling it from the sky—a slander against the Targaryens across the Narrow Sea.

To make the actual mission night go faster, Robb and Arya had driven to the art store downtown and had gotten a huge, industrial sized roll of art paper. Now when Gendry and Jon (who had the artistic touch in their group), were done with the rough sketches on small pieces of blank paper, they could then maximize the size and draw the outline on the bigger paper. From there, it was Arya and Robb's job to cut them out. Essentially, it was like huge colour by number. They'd tape the big sheet of paper over the mural already painted on the wall, and then paint in the cut out spaces—and when the paper was removed, voila! A completed mural that represented the Lannisters so much better.

Sansa was over at Jeyne's place again. Mr. Luwin checked on them at the scheduled time. Mother and Father called around supper, for which again Gendry ate with them. The teenager stayed until the same time that Jeyne's dad dropped Sansa off, and Arya and him had made the deal that they wouldn't tell Jon and Robb what happened in the bathroom at SSH today because they weren't even going to talk about it amongst themselves.

Tomorrow night, their Plan of Attack would be put into fruition and become the Assault.

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 


	6. Chapter 5: Mission Status x2, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Alert CR, Mike

**Mission Status: Recessed**

Thursday morning, though Arya wanted to do anything but, she went to NWH for the day. Sitting through class all day, doing something as mundane as schoolwork as the anticipation for the coming night coursed through her body, made that simple task five times more difficult. But it made it all that much easier knowing that Robb and Jon and Gendry were feeling the same as her. She got called on twice in class and had been too busy thinking several hours ahead in the day to have the answer, and got scolded in front of the class. When lunch came around, she texted with Gendry for a bit, but none of it had to do with tonight. In her P.E. class they played Dodge Ball with those real rubber balls and she got hit in face three times.

When the school day was over, the two Starks and Snow converged at the car at the same time. It wasn't like if they got out of there quicker, that night would fall faster, but they felt the need to anyways. When they arrived at Winterfell Manor, Gendry was already waiting for them at the gate, sitting atop the stone wall that surrounded the estate.

As Jon braked in front of the curb Arya jumped out and entered the code into the gate. After the gate opened and her two brothers drove through, she stayed behind and waved at the other teen. Gendry leapt down from the wall casually, his hands shoved into his uniform trouser pockets.

"Hey," he said as the stepped through the path gate.

She gave a small smile in response. "What are you doing here so early? SSH is at least an hours walk, 45 minutes if you cut through the park." She stopped suddenly and gave him a worried blink. "Did something happen?"

He looked over at her with a arched dark brow. "Perceptive of you, Arya."

"Well?" Her tone wasn't unkind.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance, but not at her, something else. "I got into it with the little shit today." A shudder went through her at his turn of phrase. "Sorry." He grimaced at the reminder as well. "He kept on pestering me about you—well, not _you,_ Arry-you—anyways, he kept going on and on about what he was going to do to you once you came out of hiding and my temper got the best of me."

She waited but he didn't say anymore; her worry was rising. "What happened?" she insisted.

He glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I got suspended," he admitted.

"You what?!" She exclaimed. "Why? What did you _do?"_

"He just wouldn’t shut the fuck up! He just kept going on and on like a mosquito buzzing in my ear. I can usually ignore him most of the time, but I couldn't let the things he was saying slid. So I gave him a shove into the lockers and Tywin happened by; I got suspended for three days."

"Joffrey's all bark until his target gets taken down by someone else and then he strikes—he's like a fucking vulture. He waits for someone else to do all the work, then steps in, takes a few swings, and claims the victory. Just like you said—a mosquito!" She gestured with her hand, confused and frustrated. "So why would you do something so stupid, especially with what's happening tonight. So why not? They're just words!"

He gritted his teeth and looked back down at her, his arms crossed tight over his chest. "Because they were about _you,_ Arya!" He snapped. "I couldn't just let him get away with saying those things about you." He made an anger gesture of his own, growling in frustration.

"What?" She baulked at his words, unsure what meaning she should be taking from them; the fact that he felt the need to protect her or the he felt the _need_ to protect her. She didn't know yet just which one was which, but after a brief second of her brain stalling, her ego kicked to the fore. She narrowed her eyes. "I can take care of myself! How many times do I have to tell you that I can and have taken down guys bigger than you? Joffrey's a twig compared, so I don't need _you_ trying to protect me like I'm some helpless maiden!"

He looked at her disbelieving for a moment before his electric blue eyes narrowed. " _That's_ what you care about? Your _reputation?_ I got suspended!" He pointed to himself.

"Well that wasn't my fault!" She protested. "You were the one stupid enough to get into a fight."

"Defending _you!"_

"I just told you that I don't need to be defended, I can take care of myself! You put me and that asshole in a room, who do you think is going to walk out? Huh? Me, that's who! So you got yourself suspended for no fucking reason, Gendry!"

"My reason _was_ good!" He yelled at her, his chest heaving. "I do not regret shutting Joffrey up about the way he was talking about you, even if you do."

They glared daggers at each other, the electricity in the air around them nearly physical; and just as suddenly as the fight was in her, it wasn't. Her shoulders slumped and she let out a long breath. "Fine." She grasped the lapels of her blazer lightly in her hands, her grey eyes no longer narrowed so harshly. "Whatever. Regret it, don't regret it. You were there and I wasn't; I don't know what he was saying—and I know you're not gonna tell me—but if it was bad enough for you to react that way, then there's nothing I can do about it. So... sorry."

Gendry's eyebrows shot up so fast the girl was surprised they didn't fly off his head. He opened his mouth, but seemed to think better about whatever he was going to say, and simply said. "That's alright,"

"What the fuck are you two doing?" Robb demanded, standing in the open doorway and giving Gendry a hint of a stink-eye.

"Untwist your panties, would you?" Arya called back with a smirk and her brother went a little red. "It's called talking."

Robb stuck his tongue out at her. "Just hurry it up, we got work to do." And he vanished back into the house, leaving the front door open.

She rolled her eyes as she looked back at Gendry, but started walking up the path before Robb probably annoyed Jon into coming out. Big brothers could be so annoying! What did they think the two of them were doing out here anyway? Jeez! Gendry followed her, a smirk playing on his lips.

The two brothers weren’t in the kitchen or living room, but there was a ruckus coming from the den downstairs, so that was where the pair headed. They paused at the foot of the steps at the scene before them.

"So this is what you meant by work, huh?" Arya said in derision, her arms crossed over her chest and a brow arched.

Robb had Jon pinned to the floor on his stomach, his shirt tugged over his head and tangling the teen's arms, as the Stark was drawing on his back in permanent marker. Robb froze and slowly looked over his shoulder at them, an impish look on his handsome Tully face. Distracted, Jon bucked the other teen off him, yanked his shirt down from his head and grabbed a couch cushion that had fallen to the floor in their previous struggle. He spun around, whopping Robb right in the face with it before the teen could hold up his arms in defence, knocking him flat. Jon quickly leapt on the boy’s chest, the marker in hand and as Robb struggled beneath him, wrote on his forehead.

"Jon!" Robb protested, finally shoving the other boy off.

Jon went willingly, leaning back against the foot of the couch as he recapped the marker, a satisfied look on his face as Robb scrambled around for a reflective surface.

Arya plopped on the couch beside Jon and Gendry sat next her.

"What'd you write?" She wondered as Robb ran to the small half-bath that was down here.

"Jackass." Jon sniggered just as Robb exclaimed, "Fuck, Jon, you asshole!"

Arya laughed with the two teens as the water started running in the bathroom and Robb tried to wash the marker from his face.

"So, Gendry, did you skip last period or something?" Jon asked, looking across to the teen.

"He got suspended, the idiot." Arya deadpanned before the teen could speak up.

"What? Why for?"

Gendry opened his mouth, but again it was Arya that spoke before him. "The idiot shoved the dick into the lockers and got caught." She shook her head in disgust.

"Wow, that _was_ stupid." Jon agreed while Gendry sighed and rolled his eyes, made a 'whatever' gesture and leaned back on the couch. "But good job anyways." He winked, the Waters boy started to smile. "Still stupid though," he said quickly when Arya shot him a look.

"I can't believe you wrote that on my face, man!" Robb sulked, finally coming out of the bathroom. His forehead was rubbed raw, but you could still read the work 'Jackass' despite it being slightly faded.

"Whatever, you're the one who started it. I was just minding my own business when you jumped me." Jon scoffed, blowing his curly bangs from his eyes in a puff of breath.

"What did you draw on him anyways?" Arya wondered, and without permission, she leaned over, shoved Jon forward and tugged his rumpled shirt to his shoulders. "Oh my Gods!" She laughed.

"What? What is it?" Jon asked, trying to look over his shoulder and see it too, but obviously failing.

Gendry leaned over for a look too and let out a bark of laughter. "You totally deserve what you got, Robb!"

"Would somebody just tell me what the fuck it is?!" Jon demanded, glaring over a Robb who was still glowering but smirking a little as well.

"Well... it's a crude drawing of a..." Arya bit her lip, reluctant to say for feeling both sympathy for her brother and the laughter in her throat. "Penis!" She put him out of his misery.

"What! Are you fucking serious?" Arya let his shirt fall back down. "You bastard!" He glared at Robb.

"At least its not on your forehead." Gendry tried to point out the bright side.

"Yeah... lucky." But Jon still didn't seem too happy about it. He didn't know the exact spot where the—drawing—was, so how the hell was he going to wash it off in the shower? He was going to be walking around with a penis on his back for a few days, the only consolation was that Robb had it on his forehead.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" Arya asked her Stark brother.

"Yeah, I heard." Robb dropped down into a beanbag that sat in the corner, luckily it wasn't the one that Arya had yet to sew, and glowered at Jon. "Does it mean our plan for tonight is going to be pushed back?"

"Not at all." Gendry said. "Getting suspended changes nothing."

Xx

**Mission Status: Continued**

When Robb and Jon went to pick up Bran and Rickon from their team practices, Gendry helped Arya in the kitchen with supper like a gentleman—or more like, he was a way better cook than her so he ended up bossing her around—which she took with as much grace as Arya Stark could to taking orders. By the time her four brothers got home, the dishwasher was full and the sink stacked with pots and pans.

"Be greatful, you cavemen!" Arya grumbled when the sat in the dinning room and the four boys didn't even say anything, but dug right in. And they did look like a bunch of unmannered cavemen, the girl was surprised that Rickon didn't hit Robb over the head with the serving spoon when they reached for it at the same time—but she understood what they were on about, Gendry's cooking could rival even that of Catelyn Stark’s. But Gendry didn't seem to mind, he actually looked happy as he ate and watched the rest of them eat, eating at a slower pace like Arya. Mother always said a reaction like this to her cooking was a stroke to her ego as a cook—that or they were just a group of growing boys who just shovel whatever food is in front of them without tasting—and on one blue moon, she even joked that she could put a deceased fish in front of her sons and they probably wouldn't even realized until they were sick in the toilet later.

After supper was finished, she made her brothers do the dishes while she answered the call from mother and father. It always seemed that when their parents went away, it fell to Arya to cook their meals on the simple fact that she was female (stupid boys) and that unlike Sansa who couldn't even boil water, make toast without burning it let alone a meal for herself and five others, she could do all those; Rickon was too young to cook, mother didn't like Bran using the stove without supervision, Robb could boil water and make toast but it was just trouble when you tried to get him to make a group meal, Jon was the only one who had the same level of skill in the kitchen as Arya. So whoever were the ones who hadn't cook got to clean up—just because they had a lot of money and a huge house, didn't mean they had maids and butlers on call—the Starks believed in doing things themselves, in earning their keep, so they did most things themselves (but thank the Gods for the dishwasher).

Before their plan could be put into action, they had to wait for dark to fall, Mr. Luwin to check on them and Sansa to return home to keep an eye on Bran and Rickon—as much sense as that made. So while they waited, getting everything together, going over their plan once more. They were all anxious, the anticipation building up, making them restless—it was a rollercoaster, the adrenaline that started to flow through your body as you slowly inched up that steep incline, getting ever closer to the steeper drop on the other side.

It was 7:30 p.m. when Mr. Luwin checked in with them; the streetlights came on around the same time, but it didn't grow fully dark until nearly 9:00 p.m.; and Sansa came home from Jeyne's not long afterward, heading straight for her room ignoring them all, but not before she shot them a disdainful look at making her come home early to watch her annoying brothers.

**Mission Juliet: Crossing The Threshold**

They donned dark clothes, Gendry borrowing some from Robb because he was broader in the shoulders and chest than Jon who was leaner. And packed everything into the car.

Jon parked the car in a nearly deserted parking lot two blocks from SSHS, and the group walked on the opposite side of the property. They needed to make their entry about two-minutes after Pycelle passed by the front gate, so like a bunch of criminal—with a good cause—they huddled behind a hedge that was growing opposite the school and waited. Arya couldn't help but think that in the dirt and dark with bugs was better than being stuck in SSH's bathroom for nearly two hours.

They saw the light of Pycelle's flashlight first, before he came shuffling along through their view through the wrought iron gate.

"Jesus fuck, can this guy move any slower or what?" Robb whispered impatiently, his voice sounding as if through a microphone, but it was the three others' hisses to shut up that made the crickets go quiet. They all froze and a few seconds later the bugs started up again. "How is this dude a security guard? He must be like a hundred years old." The teen whispered again, quieter still.

"He probably is," Gendry muttered, still as a rock as Pycelle was only halfway across the front of the school, still shuffling.

"How is he supposed to guard anything, he can barely walk."

"This school has the Lannisters written all over it, and no one crosses the Lannisters."

"Well, that's changing tonight." Jon murmured, his voice hard.

Arya didn't see why they would need a security guard in the first place. NWH didn't have one (though after what happened with the cats, the groundskeeper double-checked all the doors and windows before he left for the night), what could this school have that needed guarding? And anyway, if they were going to go through all the trouble of hiring a guard, why wouldn't they make it someone who was younger and stronger, someone who could actually do something if somebody tried to break into the school? It didn't make any sense, and Arya got an uneasy feeling in her stomach, but said nothing to others, they'd probably think she was just scared—which she wasn't.

She groaned internally, maybe they should have spent last night staking the place out like they did in the movies, to study Pycelle’s routine, his route. Gendry had told them that Pycelle just transversed the perimeter of the school, inside the school grounds once an hour—and that was just what the old man was doing so the boys saw nothing to worry about, so she put it to the back of her mind for later.

"Finally!" Robb breathed, when Pycelle disappeared from view and a moment later, the beam of his flashlight around the corner as he shuffled on. "Alright, let's go."

They came out of hiding, the wind masking the rustling of the leaves and crept across the empty street and stopped at the closed private gate that stood next to the main gate. This was the one that Gendry had the code to.

"Moment of truth." Gendry carefully typed in the code to the keypad, the others getting angsty about being out in the open, shinning a dime flashlight on it to see. He glanced back at the others and Arya gave him a firm nod, he pressed the enter button and they held their breath for a moment as nothing happened and they waited to the cops suddenly skid up or attack dogs to be released, but inside the little red-light blinked green and there was a click as the lock on the gate was released.

There was an explosion of breaths and Gendry pushed the gate open, not a creak sounded, the hinges thoroughly greased. They closed the gate behind them, it clicking locked again, so that when Pycell came around again, he wouldn't notice anything amiss—unless he was short-sighted, at his age it was probable. The rushed for the front steps and Gendry was up again, for the main entrance there was a key and a code that was needed. The code was different from the gate so the teen had to glance at his cheat paper to make sure he had it right first. The key he used was a copy that he'd gotten done at the mall without Robert even noticing it was missing.

When he pulled the door open, no klaxon and red-flashing alarm went off and they quickly slid through the doors. They closed behind the group, and the only light was coming through the door windows behind them from the streetlights.

They each turned on their own flashlights, brighter than the previous one and made there way down the hall, Gendry leading the way with the other following.

When they got to the end of the hall, the mural lit by the flashlight beams, Jon and Robb's intake of breaths at seeing it firsthand were audible, coursing with anger.

"Those bastards!" Robb hissed.

**Mission Kilo: Supply Run**

"Let's put these Lannisters in their proper place." Jon growled. "Arya, you and Gendry go get the paint and brushes that we need, you know the colours, and me and Robb with get the papers up. Keep your lights to the floor, and all our cells are already linked, so we're just a button away."

Stark and Waters nodded, and the pair headed right down the hall towards the Art room, as the brothers started unpacking the paper from the backpack that Jon had on, Arya the other.

They kept their flashlights low to the floor as they walked the long stretch of empty hall. The place was oppressing in the day, but it felt just plan creepy now in the dark—she was trying not to think of horror movies taking place in schools just like this with someone coming out of the classroom with a chainsaw or something.

"Yeah, I guess." Gendry murmured, startling Arya a little.

"What?" She whispered.

He glanced at her. "It does have a creepy shadowing at night like this." He said a she realized she must have said it out loud.

"Oh." Was her reply as they finally made to the Art room.

Gendry had copied another key, the universal one that Robert had, but it only pertained to the classrooms on the first floor, leaving out supply closets, the office, teachers lounge etc. They crouched low to the floor because the were at the back of the school, and about fifty feet down the hall were the back doors, which had big windows and Pycelle should be shuffling around back there by now.

He opened the class door and they crawled in. They dare not turn on the lights, but dimmed their flashlights and kept from the windows. Gendry pointed her in the direction of the paints cupboard as he went looking for the paint brushes and palettes. They were lucky that the paint wasn't locked up because the only person who had a key would have been the art teacher. There were like a hundred paint jars in the cupboard, a vast array of colours, but she found the ones she needed rather quick and started to fill up her backpack.

"Hey, you got everything?" Gendry whispered in her ear.

She jumped a little, but didn't make a sound, and spun on her heel and glared at him. "Don't sneak up on me like that." She hissed.

"Sorry," he murmured, but didn't look it; his arms full of supplies. "Didn't think you'd be this scared."

"I wasn't scared!" She protested, he raised his brow. "It's just nerves, okay? It's not like I break into places all the time, you know."

"Yeah, okay." He said. "You got everything?"

She nodded and he made his way to the door, but as she was closing the cupboard, another jar caught her eye. Plan already half-formed, she put it in her bag along with her collected paints and went after Gendry, zipping it up.

"How can you be so calm about this?" She asked as they started down the hall again, back toward Jon and Robb just as a flashlight slowly started to bob outside the Art room windows. He just shrugged silently as she eyed him and them she gasped. "Oh my Gods, you've done this before!"

"Quiet!" he hissed, glancing back at the square of light that shone on the wall opposite the Art room.

"Oh my Gods," she repeated, quieter this time as the crept along, "you've done this before. Tell me it's not a regular occurrence, Gendry. Do you have a criminal record?"

"I guess you could call it that." He admitted slowly. "Don't look at me like that! It was nothing bad, I swear. After my mum died, I was angry and defiant, so I shoplifted a bit."

"Wait, you said you were five when your mother died." She remembered.

He nodded. "That's why it's not a real record." He smirked, "Of course, I'm not stupid enough to get caught anymore."

"Oh, okay, very funny." She looked at him and knew he was joking. "A lot of things make sense now."

"W—" He was cut off as they made it back to the T-junction

"It took you guys long enough!" Robb hissed at them. "Now is not the time to be chatting away."

"Did you get the stuff?" Jon asked.

Arya nodded. "Right here," she patted the bulging bag and made an obvious gesture at Gendry's full hands.

"Alright, let's get started. Just fill in the blanks and we can leave it to dry while we do the one on the second floor as well."

**Mission Lima: Slandering The Lion**

The brushes were handed out, and the jars of paint were opened. Robb and Arya would fill in the big spaces that just needed colouring, and then Jon and Gendry would come in afterward and fill in the details. They weren't just going to slap some paint on the wall and be done with it like the faded penis on Jon's back. No, they were going to make this count, because they'd never get another chance like this again. So their work consumed them, the time ticking away. They each worked their own section, like the perfect machine. Yellow, brown, tan, red, white, black; it all came together slow, going from just colours to an image. When Robb and Arya were done filing in the big plan-coloured sections, they left Jon and Gendry to the details and headed upstairs to start on the second mural.

Robb shook his head in disgust as he saw the symbol of the Tully House clamped between the lion's maw as he took out the tracing paper over the wall and held it there while Arya tapped the bottom to the wall, then switched places so that he could tape the top half.

"How could we not have known about these being here this whole time?" He muttered as they opened the paint jars and started filing in the blanks.

Arya shook her head. "How could we have? No Direwolf has set foot in the Lion's Lair until now. But that doesn't matter anymore, we _did_ find out and we're correcting these to say the real truth of the Lannisters and Baratheons. They think they're better than we of the North, when they are the ones who are bestial and indecent!" She remembered what Gendry had told her about Cersei and Joffrey and felt sick all over again.

Robb glanced over at her. "Arya, are you—"

"We're finally finished down there." Jon said, he and Gendry finally appearing with a bag of their own.

"Great, were halfway finished here ourselves." Arya said and the two teens started on the side that the two Starks had just vacated, their brushes smaller to make their little nuances all the more finer and clean.

They worked quiet, focused, a paintbrush in one hand, a flashlight in the other; dip and stroke. Robb and Arya finished the other half before Jon and Gendry were halfway done on theirs, so the pair sat back and waited.

"What is wrong with you?" Arya hissed to her brother as he shifted next to her for the fiftieth time.

"Sorry. It's not my fault, I have to take a major piss." Robb retorted.

"So then go."

"Where? In my pants?"

"In the bathroom you idiot!"

"Would you two shut up?" Gendry barked at them over his shoulder. "What's the problem?"

"I have to take a piss, that's the problem." Robb growled.

"Arya, just show him the bathroom!" Jon snapped, not even stopping in his work.

"Fine." She grumbled, but as soon as he said that, the plan she had been making in her head since the Art room was finally going to come to fruition. "With pleasure," she murmured and grabbed Robb's arm, the jar and brush tucked into her hoodie pocket.

She dropped Robb at the dreaded bathroom.

"I'll only be sec." He promised, and rushed inside.

Arya needed more than a second though, but it didn't matter, as soon as the door swung shut, she continued on down that hall at a stealthy run. She went down the back staircase, two at a time and reached the bottom fast. Pycelle was probably making his third round of the school about now, but there was no telling where the old man might be, so as a precaution, all the way down the hall, she went into a quick duck walk all the way back to the first mural.

She set her flashlight down on the floor, pointing it at the wall; the beam lit the bottom, but cast the top in dimness. The paint was still tacky, but she knew that it wasn't wet enough to smear and ruin the picture. She took the jar from her pocket and popped off the lid. The brush she used was four inches wide and she dipped it into the jar. It had the consistency of sap as she applied it to the wall, starting at the top left corner as high as she could reach and working her way from there. But it wasn't long before she had to pick up the flashlight and held it between her teeth so that she could see. In the cupboard it wasn't another jar of paint that she had taken, but a jar of varnish.

The label said that it was an oil-based varnish, applying this over the new murals will make it that much harder for the school to remove it. They would now unable to just paint over them again, but would have to sand the wall all the way down to the brick again and repaint it—this would take time as well as money.

Arya knew that her brothers and Gendry would be pissed when they found out that she wasn't with them anymore—it was most like that Robb was already finished in the bathroom and had sounded the alert—but their anger would be worth it. And right on schedule, her cell buzzed in her pants pocket—their immediate panic at her absence must have subsided and common sense took over again.

She sighed, set the flashlight on the floor and squatted next to it, and put the half-empty jar of varnish on her other side. She fished her phone out and opened it. "Yeah?" she murmured into her phone’s mouth piece; like Jon said earlier, they were connected and in walkie-mode.

" _Arya? Are you okay? Where the fuck are you_?" Robb's voice came through loud with worry.

"Not so loud." Arya said, dipping her brush in the jar and starting on the bottom corner of the mural. "I'm fine—not kidnapped and being held against my will my old man Pycelle—I'm downstairs is all."

" _Why the hell are you down there_?" Robb asked, no longer worried but frustrated.

"I'm putting the finishing touches on the mural." She replied. "Did you tell Jon and Gendry yet?"

"No. I was scared half to death that Pycelle ninjad up to the second floor and grabbed you."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Didn't I just say Pycelle hadn’t got me? Anyway, they know now."

" _Yes, we do_." Jon's voice came over the phone grimly. " _And as much as I want to get into this, I'm not, we've been here long enough as it is. Robb, get your ass down there and help her with whatever it is that she'd doing."_

"Got it."

"Robb, go the way we came the first time, otherwise you'll get lost. I have an extra paintbrush." Arya said, dipping her brush again and stroking the wall with the covered bristles.

" _Oh, and Arya_?" Jon's voice came back deceptively silky. " _When we get home, things are going to happen." "I want in on that."_ She heard Gendry's voice faintly next to her brother and winced.

"I know. Believe me, I know." She stowed her phone back into her pocket and shuffled down the wall a bit.

**Mission Alert: CODE RED** — **Discovery Possible**

She could hear the light tap as Robb made his way down the staircase to her right, but a flashlight beam flashed across the wall to her left, jerking closer and closer. She cursed, adrenaline kicking her heart into her throat but she didn't freeze. She flicked off her flashlight and set her brush in the jar; she needed to get to Robb before he turned that corner, flashlight on, possibly noticing Pycelle to the fact that SSH wasn't empty for the night after all.

She ran low, closing in on the corner fast, she could see the light shinning on the shiny floor, saw the tip of the flashlight peek around the corner bright, his fingertips wrapped around the small shaft when she skidded around the corner. She grabbed his wrist, pulling it with her, her hand clapping over Robb's mouth, suffocating the yelp and curse of surprise as she pressed his back against the wall in darkness, the flashlight beam snuffed out between their bodies.

Robb knew better than to move, so he stayed against the wall, turning his flashlight off between their bodies and took in a deep breath when she finally released his mouth. Her face was turned the way she'd just come, tracking the dimness of Pycelle's flashlight shining through the windows.

"What is it?" Robb's voice was barely audible and she only heard it because of how closed they were.

"Pycelle's light." She replied just as quiet.

He asked nothing more, hearing all he needed to. They stayed their position for a minute or so, but it felt like ten, before Pycelle's light finally vanished. They let out twin breaths of relief, flicking Robb's light back on and Arya let him back to the mural.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" Robb asked.

She crouched in her previous vacated spot and switched on her flashlight. "In the Art room, among the paint, I found a jar of varnish." She explained as Robb knelt next to her, "If we put this over the paint, it will make it that much harder for them to get rid of it—which mean's that more people will see it—thus further humiliation for the Lannisters."

"Clever, dear sister." Robb grinned and took the second brush that she handed him. "What are we waiting for?"

Arya smiled and took her brush from the jar while her brother dipped his in. They started from their respective sides, meeting in the middle in the end. Before they packed it in she shined the light at the top and Robb got the parts at the top that she was unable to reach. They bumped fists and grinned at each other, admiring the clear layer of protection under this new and greatly improved mural.

"I can't wait to hear them roar in humiliation." Arya cooed.

Robb wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. "You were also the smart one." He murmured.

"I know," she murmured jokingly.

**Mission Mike: Exit Plan**

"Okay, let's get the fuck out of here."

Both Starks jumped and spun, finding both Gendry and Jon coming down the hall, both bags slung over their shoulders.

"Are you guys done?" Robb asked.

"Yeah. You?" Gendry asked, looking at them questioningly. "What was so important down here that you had to run without telling anyone... Arya?"

She gave him a cool expression, her arms crossed over her chest. "Protective coating."

"What?"

"She found this varnish stuff in the Art room," Robb picked up the jar from the floor and showed them. "It'll protect the picture, making it harder for them to hide it. Pretty cool, right?"

"Good job, Arya." Jon nodded. "But enough talking. We've been here long enough already, it's about time we make leave."

Arya took the jar from Robb and stowed it in her pocket again along with the used brushes. They all turned off their flashlights, but Gendry, who had dimmed his and led the way back to the front doors. They kept low but when they made it to the entrance doors, they hunkered down out of sight and waited. They weren't sure where Pycelle was in his round this hour, so to be safe they would wait until he passed them by.

"Here he comes." Gendry murmured.

They scarcly breathed as the light of Pycelle's flashlight shone through the two windows in the doors above their heads, and dared not speak, but shared worried glances as the light seemed to linger on the door for minutes. Could he sense them right their behind the doors, just a dozen feet away from him? He may be old, but Tywin must have kept the old man on for a reason, he must be sharper than his age and hunched shoulders made him appear. After so many years as SSH's night security guard, would he be able to tell that the door was unlocked?

But the light bobbed and them slowly disappeared from the window. It had just been a lick of fear that went through her that spurred on the thoughts—breaking and entering and vandalism hovering in the back of her mind still. But they didn't dare move until Pycelle's light came and went through the school office's windows.

They all slipped out, Gendry locking the doors again with the key, and they made a B-line for the gate the had come through earlier. Gendry entered the code and closed the gate behind them. As much as their nerves and the adrenaline pumping through them told them to run, they forced themselves to walk casually away from the school and the car parked blocks away. It was suspicious enough have four teenagers out walking the streets late at night all wearing dark clothes and backpacks—what might a passer-by think if they were running? It had been a good thing too that they had controlled the urge, because not ten feet out of the leaving the gate, a car _had_ passed by.

When the got back to the car, they all got in without a word, and it stayed that way when Jon pulled from the drive. It was almost two o'clock by the time they dropped Gendry a block from his house and made it back to Winterfell Manor.

-tbc-

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you're probably just dying to know what they painted in place of the original murals, right? Well, stay tuned because you'll find out in the next chapter. Please review and...  
> Thanks for Reading!


	7. Epilogue: Mission November, Oscar, Alert CG

**Mission November: The Come Down**

Thursday night when the two Starks and their brother Snow came home, they did it quiet and in the dark (bar their flashlights on their dim setting); they hugged, said goodnight and went straight to bed, the scolding forgotten. Tomorrow afternoon mother and father would be home, they had to get up for school in the morning. Arya didn't think that she could sleep after what her two brothers and Gendry had just done, still high on the success of it—but when she changed out of her mission clothes and into her pyjamas and laid in bed, sleep claimed her almost immediately—and she dreamed of wolves concurring the lions.

When she woke up, it was like any other morning. She showered and changed into her NWH uniform, but before she went downstairs for breakfast, she hid the varnish jar and brushes in her bottom desk drawer and texted Gendry. Saying: _good morning - did u make it home alrite?_ It was nearly ten minutes before he texted her back and she was already downstairs getting a bowl of cereal. Jon, Bran and Rickon were already in the dinning room eating breakfast, Sansa was still in her bathroom, and Robb probably doing the same.

_Mornin. Yea, got bck jst fine. Didn't even kno I wasn't there. U?_

_Yea. Parents bck 2day. U take / pics?_

_Y. Took them aftr me & Jon finished. I’m going 2 schl anyways, they won’t even notice that I’m not supposed 2 b there. I cn post them under dick's login at schl, shw evry1 how / lions really take it up the ass! I'm gonna have a front row seat & it will b glorious. :() tu._

_lol. sux we can't b there, ur gonna have 2 cum by l8er._

_I'll b vry descriptive don't worry! lol_

_ttyl_

_dito_

Arya put her phone away and started back on her cereal before it went to complete mush as Robb and Sansa finally came down, both in their uniforms.

"Gendry's going to come by later," she told her older brothers.

"Mum and dad are coming back today." Robb said as he sat at the table with some toaster waffles.

Arya just shrugged. "It's not the first time you've guys have had friends over."

" _Our friend?"_ Robb repeated.

"Yes, _your_ friend. How do you supposed mother and father might react if I say _he's_ my friend?" she raised a brow.

"She wouldn’t exactly be happy about it," Jon agreed.

"So then we're all in agreement then," she left the table.

Xx

**Mission Oscar: Silent Triumph**

It was during first period break that Gendry texted her, but it wasn't until lunch time that she was able to look at them and answer back.

She and Jon and Robb claimed a picnic table outside during lunch to themselves, crowded together as they looked at the small screen on her phone, their heads together.

_Check it! U r going 2 rotfl! ;)_

Was all the text said, but there was a video link and she selected it. Since it was a cell phone video, the sound was sketchy and the video slight blurry, but everything was clear enough for them.

Arya could see part of the mural that they had painted on the first floor, the one that they had replaced with the Stag mounted behind the big cat buggering the Lion as it roared with in not triumph but gratification—the wolf nowhere in sight. There was a crowd of boys in the disgusting uniforms all talking loudly, pointing and laughing because in front of the mural was Joffrey, screaming furiously, clawing at the wall as if he could scrap it away and the other boys who were laughing. He was red in the face and it was the most awesome sight because Gendry and Jon had altered the lion's face slightly so that it almost looked like Joffrey.

"You better send this to me!" Robb laughed, grinning at his brother and sister who had the same looks of glee on their faces as Joffrey continued to go crazy, the students just stepping back and watching and then Robert charged in and it went from just simply awesome to tremendously-awesome. It was better than any of them could have hoped for.

Arya would have thought that as soon as Tywin came to SSH this morning, he would have saw the mural on his way to his grand office and shut the school down until Monday immediately, but the Gods were shinning their favour on the little foursome because Tywin had a board meeting with the small shareholders of SSH and was away at the Highgarden Country Club. So this video was unexpected, the best surprise that she had ever had.

When the video ended, she texted it to her brothers, and as they watched it again and forwarded the video to all their contacts, she texted Gendry back.

_Thank u 4 this gift_

Xx

When they got home from school, their parents were back, and everyone stayed in for a nice meal cooked by Catelyn. It was a feast, almost rivalling that of Christmas dinner with a whole roasted chicken. It was a nice change after eating Arya's and Jon's cooking for three days, with the exception of Gendry cooking that one night, which was like a Gods send.

It was around seven o'clock when the doorbell rang, and Arya rushed to answer it, knowing it was going to be Gendry. He met the Lord and Lady of Winderfell Manor, though they met him with some reserve, but allowed the four of them down in the den until half past nine where the Waters boy happily told them the tale of Joffrey's complete freak-out.

Arya sat on the couch between her brothers and watched Gendry do a whole re-enactment, and it made the three of them do what Gendry's text earlier had said—roll around on the floor laughing. And as she gasped for breath, laughter tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, tangled in a pile on the floor with her brothers, she wondered if they were ever going to Gendry Waters again.

And then the teen belly flopped on them, and the thought went from her mind as it became a brawl. In the end, they made such a ruckus that Catelyn herself came down to scold the four of them—but as soon as she left back up the stairs they burst out laughing.

Xx

**Mission Alert: Code Green** — **A New Direwolf**

On Monday, it was talk of the school, the new murals at SSH. Of course, Tywin was an efficient man, and he had the hard work that the four of them had done erased and a even grander depiction of the triumphant lion on the school walls. Gendry had gotten a picture of it and sent it to their phones. Arya wasn't sure if this one was less insulting or more so than the last. The new mural on the ground floor had the alpha lion with its huge mane at the center, surrounded by its pride, claiming a gravesite scattered with wolf bones. But there wasn't much Tywin Lanniser could do about a video gone viral on the internet, even one as powerful as him.

The Lannisters were despicable people, they got away with doing whatever they wanted—they had money so they had power and they used it to do disgusting things like this. What they had done had changed nothing. It would be one more semester before Robb and Jon graduated, replacing those murals was one of the last thing that those two could do before they left, and it didn't even seem to make a dent.

One thing good did come out of all of this though—Gendry. It was Monday and everything was almost the same—almost. Because when Arya came to school that morning, sitting on the bike rack near the entrance was none other than the dark-haired, blue-eyed Gendry Waters in not his altered SS uniform, but a sharp grey blazer with a direwolf's head on the breast.

"Gendry? What are you doing here? And in NW's uniform?" Arya asked in confusion.

He stood up from the bike rake and grinned down at her. "You like it?" he asked, holding the blazer open and giving her a spin.

"Well, yeah. Anything is better than SS uniforms." Arya agreed. "But why are you wearing it, you don't go here. Where'd you even _get_ that?"

"You're being a real dunce right now, Arya."

She glared at him. "Do you want to fight?" she wondered.

"No, sorry—not today." He held up his hands in surrender, but smiled at her. "But come on, you can't even speculate?"

"You borrowed one of my brothers' unforms and are playing a confusing prank on me." She guessed in a blank tone, he ade a disapproving face at her. "I figured not, so just tell me what hell you're doing so we can get on with our lives!" She exclaimed.

"I transferred." He said simply.

"What? What do you mean you transferred?"

"I don't go to SSH anymore. I transferred over here to NW—as you may see by the uniform I'm wearing." He told her. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?" He asked when she looked at him with a slack jaw.

"Your _transferred?_ " she asked finally to clarify, he nodded. "And Robert _let_ you?"

"Robert had nothing to do with it." His blazing blue eyes went cold for a second, and then he was smiling again. "You pulled me over to the North, Arya. You drew me to the cold and the snow, to freedom!" He spread his arms wide and threw his face back to the sky.

Arya didn't think she'd ever see him more happy than when he was insulting the Lannister name and that of his father's. "Well, then, welcome home." She murmured. "Welcome home."

Of course, not now, but later, it was them who paved the way for others not to turn the other cheek towards the Lannisters and SSH, but returned the favour with a closed fist.

The people that stuck together were the family that stayed together.

- _the end-_

**********Game/of/Thrones**********

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mural on the first floor had the same background as the first, but the dead wolf at the lions feet was painted over and a stag was painted mounting the lion from behind doing you-know-what, with the lion having similar features to Joffrey. The mural on the second floor had the same background as well, but the trout in the lion's maw was painted over and the water hole was widened; in the end it was the depiction of the lion drowning in the water, helpless and weak. Hope you enjoyed this little fic with its happy ending and I hope that you review as well!  
> Thanks for Reading!


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